


The Hart III: Secrets

by bamby0304



Series: The Hart [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Blood Drinking, Canon Universe, Cheating, Death, Drama, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Multi, Smut, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2019-11-13 10:06:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 69,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18029672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bamby0304/pseuds/bamby0304
Summary: Three months… Dean was gone for three months and now he’s back. He’s back and he truly has no idea how much things have changed. Life moved on while Dean was in Hell, and now things are complicated. With new faces and troubles right around the corner, will the trio find a way to come back together? Or has all hope been lost?





	1. Back Again

##  **  
**

**_Warnings_ : Angst. Slight violence. Fluff-ish. Drama.  
**

**DPOV**

I remembered pain, torture, unspeakable horrors. Then I was awake…

Breathing heavily, I felt around until my hand landed on a lighter. Flicking it on, I used the flame to look around, finding myself in a tight, wooden box. A coffin. I was in coffin, in the ground, in my body. My real, completely alive and intact body.

“Help!” I tried to yell out, but my voice was too hoarse. I tried again. “Help! Help!” Lifting my fist, I pounded on the wood above my head.

Dirt rained down on my face, but I continued to pound on the wood. Pushing, hitting and doing everything I could until the wood broke and I could work on getting myself out of there.

Digging through the dirt, pulling myself up and out until I felt warmth on my hand. I didn’t stop until I broke the surface.

Squinting against the bright light, taking a deep and needed breath, I grunted as I finished crawling out of the grave and on to the dry grassy ground.

Rolling onto my back I gave myself a moment to catch my breath before I got moving again. I couldn’t waste time, I needed to figure out what was happening to me. Where I was. Why I was here, alive.

As I looked around I found myself in a field, a circle of dead trees laying on the ground around where I’d been buried, as if they’d been blasted by something powerful.

_What the…?_

* * *

I’d made it to a seemingly abandoned gas station. Reaching the door, I knocked on it and waited. “Hello?”

When there was no response, I pulled my shirt from my waist- the long sleeve, button up, green one which had been over my black top- wrapped it around my hand, and smashed the glass of the door with my fist.

Heading inside, I quickly grabbed some water from one of the fridges and began to drink, finishing it quickly. As I lowered the bottle from my lips, I noticed a newspaper that sat close by, seeing that the date was Thursday, September 18th.

I frowned. “’ _September_ ’.”

* * *

In the bathroom of the gas station, I washed my face as I tried to ignore the flashing memories in my mind. But there was one memory I couldn’t ignore. The memory of how I died.

The Hellhounds had ripped me to shreds. Yet as I lifted my shirt, I found no scars or marks even hinting at what I’d been through.

A tingling sensation pulled my attention away from my chest and towards my left shoulder. Lowering my top, I reached for my sleeve, pulling it up to reveal a large, raw, red, scarred hand print brand.

_What is going on?_

* * *

With a plastic bag in hand, I grabbed food, and water, shoving it all in the bag. I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to get to Sam, or Bobby, or Liz. So I would need all the supplies I could get.

Moving around the shelves, I spotted a magazine. _Busty Asian Beauties_. Smirking, I lifted the magazine and began to flick through it quickly before stuffing it in with the rest of my supplies.

Heading over to the counter, I set the bag down and opened the register to take all the money. As I looted the register, the TV to my left flicked on, though the screen only showed static.

Cautiously, I reached over to turn the TV off, hoping that it had just been something wrong with the wiring. The radio turned on the moment the TV turned off. I stepped closer to turn that off as well, but as I did the TV flicked back on.

Not wasting a moment, I hurried towards another shelf where I grabbed a carton of salt. Opening it, I moved to a window and began to pour, working as quickly as I could.

But before long, a high-pitched noise began to ring, distracting me. I tried to ignore it but the louder it got the more it began to hurt.

Groaning, I clutched my ear, hoping to block to sound out as I continued to try and pour a line of salt. But it was hopeless. The noise got louder and more painful, eventually I had to let the salt go and clutch both of my ears as I fell to the ground in pain.

The window above my head shattered as the sound kept ringing. I got to my feet as quickly as I could, moving for the door, needing to get out of there. More glass smashed, causing me to drop to the floor again, and cover my ears and face to protect myself.

A second later, the noise suddenly stopped.

Groaning, I pulled myself up and stepped to the window, looking around to see if what had just done all of that was outside. But there was nothing. I was alone.

* * *

In the phone booth, I put in some money and pressed in Sam’s number, only to be met by an automated voice telling me the number had been disconnected. When I entered Liz’s number she didn’t pick up and I was left with her voice mail- though, I didn’t leave a message because I wasn’t exactly sure what to say.

That left Bobby.

Putting in more money, I dialled his number and let it ring as I waited. Lucky for me, it rang twice before there was an answer.

“ _Yeah?_ ”

“Bobby?”

“ _Yeah?_ ”

“It’s me.”

“ _Who’s ‘me’?_ ”

“Dean.”

The dial tone followed me. He’d hung up.

Sighing, I hung up as well and dialled again.

“ _Who is this?_ ”

“Bobby, listen to me-”

“ _This ain’t funny. Call again, I’ll kill ya._ ” With that, he hung up.

I knew better than to test him. If he was going to believe me then I needed to show him in person.

Looking around, I spotted an old, beat-up white car parked outside. My mood lifted as I left the phone booth and walked over to the car, thankful I knew how to hot-wire because there was no way I was walking all the way to Bobby’s.

* * *

I pounded my fist on the door in front of me. A moment later, the door opened, revealing Bobby as he stood in his hallway, looking at me suspiciously.

Me on the other hand, I was a little out of breath, slightly apprehensive and completely aware of the fact that I was risking my life showing up like this when I was supposed to be dead. Bobby was a well-trained hunter that knew about a dozen things that could make themselves look like me.

Still, I smiled. “Surprise.”

“I- I don’t-”

“Yeah, me neither.” I nodded, carefully stepping into the house. “But here I am.”

I saw him move first.

Bobby pulled a knife out from behind me and lunged forward, slashing out at me. I grabbed his arm and twisted it around, trying to make Bobby let go of the knife. He fought against my grip, pulling himself away from me before backhanding me in the face.

I stumbled back into his office, recovering as quickly as I could. “Bobby! It’s me!”

“My ass!” His grip on the knife was tight and ready.

I shoved a chair between us, holding my hands out. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! Your name is Robert Steven Singer. You became a hunter after your wife got possessed, and… you’re about the closest thing I have to a father.” I hoped that would convince him. “Bobby. It’s me.”

He lowered the knife and stepped forward slowly, pulling the chair away. Cautiously, I lifted his free hand and rested it on my shoulder. I honestly thought I’d gotten to him, that he understood and believed.

But once again, he lifted the knife and slashed out at me.

I grabbed him again, this time getting his arm behind his back so I could take the knife away from him. “I am not a shapeshifter!” I insisted, back us up into the kitchen.

“Then you’re a Revenant!”

I shoved him away and held out the knife in front of me. “Alright. If I was either, could I do this, with a silver knife?” Rolling up my sleeve, I grimaced as I used the knife to slice my forearm causing a line of blood to appear.

Bobby’s eyes went wide. “Dean?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

He reached forward suddenly, only this time it was to pull me in for a tight hug. I hugged him back, finally taking a breath and relaxing. He believed me.

“It’s…” He pulled away. “It’s good to see you, boy.”

“Yeah, you too.”

“But… how did you bust out?”

“I don’t know.” I shook my head and turned away for a moment, putting the knife down on the dining table. “I just, uh, I just woke up in a pine bo-” As I looked back at Bobby I was cut off by the holy water he threw at my face. Looking away, I spat some of the water out. “I’m not a demon either, you know.”

He shrugged. “Sorry. Can’t be too careful.” Reaching over, he grabbed a towel for me to wipe my face before he started for the office. “But… that don’t make a lick of sense.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re preachin’ to the choir.”

Standing behind his desk, he turned to face me, shaking his head. “Dean. Your chest was ribbons, your insides were slop. And you’ve been buried four months. Even if you could slip out of hell and back into your meat suit-”

I cut him off, nodding, knowing where he was going. “I know, I should look like a Thriller video reject.”

“What do you remember?”

“Not much. I remember I was a Hellhound’s chew toy, and then… lights out. Then I come to six feet under, that was it.” As he sat, I went on, “Sam’s number’s not working. He’s, uh… he’s not…”

“Oh, he’s alive,” he assured me. “As far as I know.”

“Good… wait, what do you mean, as far as you know?”

Bobby shook his head, sighing. “I haven’t talked to him for months. Lizzie doesn’t stick around much either.”

“You’re kidding, you just let them go off by themselves?”

“No.” He looked up at me. “I didn’t _let_ Sam do anything. He was dead set on it. And as for Lizzie… well, she comes and goes like she used to. Meets up with Sam a lot. Hunts on her own. Either way, I got no control over what those two do. I tried. These last months haven’t been exactly easy, you know. For Sam, Lizzie or me. We had to bury you.”

“Why did you bury me, anyway?”

“I wanted you salted and burned. Usual drill. Lizzie… she wasn’t really in the right mind set to know what she wanted. But… Sam wouldn’t have it.”

“Well, I’m glad he won that one.”

“He said you’d need a body when he got you back home somehow. That’s about all he said.”

Suddenly I was suspicious. “What do you mean?”

“He was quiet. Real quiet. And then he just took off. Wouldn’t return my calls. I tried to find him, but he didn’t want to be found. At least by anyone other than Lizzie. She always knows where he is. Won’t tell anyone though.”

“Oh, damnit, Sammy.” I sighed, shaking my head.

“What?”

“Oh, he got me home okay. But whatever he did, it is bad mojo.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“You should have seen the grave site. It was like a nuke went off. And then there was this… this force, this presence, I don’t know, but it, it blew past me at a fill-up joint. And then this.” I pulled the sleeve of my top up, showing him the branded hand print on my arm.

Bobby stood and leaned forward to get a better look at it. “What in the hell?”

“It was like a demon just yanked me out. Or rode me out.”

“But why?”

“To hold up their end of the bargain.”

“You think Sam made a deal.”

“It’s what I would have done,” I noted. “We gotta find him. You know where Liz is? If she knows I’m back maybe she’ll help us.”

Bobby nodded. “Yeah, I know where she is.” Walking around his desk, he started for the front door. “Follow me.”

* * *

Walking through the yard of broken down cars, following the sound of an ACDC song playing. Walking around the corner I paused in my tracks at the sight before me. I’d almost forgotten how breath-taking Liz had been.

She was leaning into the hood of her dark cherry red 1969 Chevy Camaro. Red leather jacket hanging over the open door, white tee dirty from all the work, torn dark jeans, black worn boots, her long golden wavy hair falling around her. Body as beautiful as ever. Long legs, curves in all the right places…

“Wow…”

She paused, having heard me. Slowly she turned, her grip on the wrench in her hand tightening as she looked me up and down, glaring, her mind working through all the things I might be and all the ways she could kill those types of monsters.

“Lizzie, it’s really Dean,” Bobby assured her, seeing her getting ready to attack.

She didn’t look away from me, her gaze never softening as she spoke. “You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Just like that, she dropped the wrench as a smile broke out on her face. Running towards me, I didn’t have much time to react before she jumped and wrapped me up into a hug, her thighs around my waist and her arms around my neck.

It took a moment, but after a second or two I recovered, wrapping my arms around her to return the hug.

She smelt amazing. Felt amazing. She was all the memories I’d tried to hold on to and so much more. Nothing compared to the real thing, and now that I had her back I was never letting her go again.

**EPOV**

“Yeah, I know where Sam is. But I mean… I don’t know exactly where he is.” I stood in Bobby’s office with him and Dean, explaining why I wasn’t much help. “He asked for a little space. Said he needed to do somethings and that he’d call me when he’s done.”

“Well, he’s done,” Dean sighed.

I frowned at him, confused. “What are you talking about?” When he gave me a pointed look, I understood what he meant. “You think Sam brought you back?”

He shrugged. “Only thing that makes sense.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Sam… if he was planning on bringing you back he would have included me in his plans. We promised each other.”

Turning my gaze to the floor I remembered the moment the two of us agreed that despite the fact Dean was gone, we would still stay in contact and hunt together. Things were hard and sometimes both of us had needed to go our separate ways. But we always went back to each other. He was my best friend, I couldn’t lose him like we’d lost Dean.

In the four months he’d been gone, my whole life had turned upside down. Losing Dean had nearly killed me. For the first month or two I fell into a deep depression. Sam and I went around offering any demon anything they wanted in the hopes they’d bring Dean back. None of them did.

Once we figured out no one was going to help us, Sam and I dived into hunting. I spent a lot of that time on my own when I wasn’t with Sam. Bobby hated it when I was by myself, but I couldn’t let myself get close to anyone. I couldn’t watch anyone else die. So I shut myself out.

But that was just for the first couple of months or so. Things changed after that…

Dean sighed. “Liz, please. Just tell us the town and we’ll figure out the rest.”

“Fine.” I took a deep breath, knowing how they were going to react to what I said next, “Sam’s in Pontiac, Illinois.”

Bobby’s eyes went wide as he looked up at Dean. “Right near where you were planted.”

“Right where I popped up. Hell of a coincidence, don’t you think?” Pulling out his phone, Dean shook his head as he punched in a number. “Yeah, hi, I have a cell phone account with you guys, and uh, I lost my phone. I was wondering if you could turn the GPS on for me.” He nodded. “Yeah. Name’s Wedge Antilles. Social is 2-4-7-4.” There was a slight pause before he nodded again. “Thank you.”

Bobby watched him as Dean hung up and moved to sit in front of the compute on the desk. “How’d you know he’d use that name?”

Dean scoffed. “You kiddin’ me? What don’t I know about that kid?” As he opened up the website to get the details of Sam’s location, he looked at the various bottles on the desk and around the room. “Hey, Bobby? What’s the deal with the liquor store? What, are your parents out of town or something?”

Bobby looked to me with guilt and understanding in his eyes as he answered. “Like I said. Last few months ain’t been all that easy.”

Truth is, yeah most of the bottles were Bobby’s. But in the first few months I’d emptied my fair share. I’d decided all my problems could be fixed by getting to the bottom of every drink I had.

**DPOV**

Reaching the door of room 207, I lifted my fist to knock on the wood as Liz and Bobby stood with me, waiting. Liz was leaning on the frame, looking a little anxious. It was odd. I was so used to her being confident and ready for action. Seeing her like this, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing something.

The door opened, revealing a hot, young brunette dressed in only a tank top and underwear.

She looked to the three of us expectantly. “So, where is it?”

I looked to Bobby and Liz confused, before turning back to the woman. “Where’s what?”

“The pizza,” she answered as if it were obvious. “That takes three people to deliver?”

Checking the number on the door again, my confusion grew. “I think we got the wrong room.”

“Hey, is-”

From behind the girl, Sam walked into the room and out of the bathroom. He came to a stop at the sight of the four of us at the door. But it was me that held his attention.

A small smile grew on my lips as I looked to my little brother, having never felt this happy in my life. “Heya, Sammy.”

He didn’t say anything or move as I stepped into the room. The hot chick moved aside so I could get in further, getting closer to Sam. When I was a step or two away from him, he finally reacted- though not the way I’d been hoping.

Pulling out a knife, he lunged at me.

The girl screamed as he pushed me against the wall. I struggled and fought against him, trying to keep the knife from getting to me. Liz and Bobby acted fast, grabbing and pulling Sam away from me.

“Who are you?!” Sam yelled at me, struggling against Bobby and Liz.

“Like you didn’t do this?!”

“Do what?!”

“It’s him,” Bobby assured him. “It’s him. I’ve been through this already, it’s really him.”

Sam stared at me, slowly and eventually calming down. “What…?”

Being careful and cautious, I moved closer to him. “I know. I look fantastic, huh?”

Seeing that Sam was no longer ready to kill me, Bobby and Liz let him go. Once he was free, he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug that we held for a few extra seconds. We both needed this, to feel that the other was alive and well.

Pulling away, Sam looked to me with tears in his eyes, relieved.

“So, are you two like… together?”

Sam frowned as he looked to the hot chick, remembering that she was in the room. “What? No.” He grinned lightly as I gave her a confused and offended look. “No. He’s my brother.”

“Uh… got it. I… I guess. Look, I should probably go.” She gestured to the door.

Sam nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Sorry.”

**EPOV**

You have no idea how hard it was not to say anything. I was not an idiot. Sam and I had hunted many times together over the last four months. I saw him at least once every week. I knew what was happening in his life.

Just like I knew that the girl he was escorting to the door right now, the hot chick with dark brown curls, she was not just some random chick he’d picked up. No. I knew exactly who and _what_ she was.

Ruby.

But something told me Sam wouldn’t want Dean to know, not just yet. So I was willing to keep quiet. Just like I knew Sam was going to do the same for me. We both had a few secrets these days.

Now dressed in a white button-down shirt, Sam opened the door to let Ruby out, the two of them pretending like they didn’t know each other.

Once out of the room, she turned to him with a sweet look in her eyes. “So, call me.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t sound too convincing, which was the point. “Yeah, sure thing, Kathy.”

Her face fell in disappointment. “Kristy.”

“Right.”

Looking hurt and rejected, she turned and left a moment before Sam closed the door and came to join us by the couch.

Dean stood close to where Sam sat, looking down at his brother disapprovingly and suspiciously. “So tell me, what’d it cost?”

Sam chuckled. “The girl? I don’t pay, Dean.”

Dean wasn’t laughing. “That’s not funny, Sam. To bring me back. What’d it cost? Was it just your soul, or was it something worse?”

Just like that, Sam understood what Dean was saying. “You think I made a deal?”

“That’s exactly what we think,” Bobby answered.

“I just wanna point out that I don’t think this,” I gestured to Dean, “was your doing.”

“She’s right.” Sam nodded. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Dean said it so simply and straight forward, but there were emotions behind his words, and an underlining warning.

“I’m not lying,” Sam insisted.

Pushing off the wall, Dean stepped up to Sam. “So what now, I’m off the hook and you’re on, is that it? You’re some demon’s bitch boy? I didn’t want to be saved like this.”

Getting just as frustrated and upset as his brother, Sam stood. “Look, Dean, I wish I had done it, all right?”

Dean suddenly grabbed the front of Sam’s shirt. “There’s no other way that this could have gone down. Now tell the truth!”

Pushing Dean away, Sam snapped. “I tried everything! That’s the truth. I tried opening the Devil’s Gate. Hell, I tried to bargain, Dean, but no demon would deal, all right? You were rotting in Hell for months. For _months_ , and I couldn’t stop it. So, I’m sorry it wasn’t me, all right? Dean, I’m sorry.”

Seeing the look in his brother’s eyes, Dean realised that Sam really was telling the truth, and that he felt so guilty about it all. “It’s okay, Sammy. You don’t have to apologise, I believe you.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Bobby chimed in. “I’m gladdened that Sam’s soul remains intact, but it does raise a sticky question.”

Dean nodded. “If he didn’t pull me out, then what did?”

**SPOV**

I handed Bobby, Dean and Lizzie a beer each. Bobby and Lizzie were sitting on the couch, while Dean sat on the coffee table facing my chair which I moved to sit on.

“So, what were you doing around here if you weren’t digging me out of my grave?” Dean asked, cracking his beer open.

“Well, once I figured out I couldn’t save you, I started hunting down Lilith, trying to get some payback,” I answered honestly, with a shrug.

There was no point in lying to Dean. But at the same time, there was no way I was telling him everything. Looking over at Lizzie briefly, I trusted she would do the same. The two of us had secrets now, and there was no way Dean- or even Bobby- was ready to hear them.

“All by yourself.” Bobby didn’t sound very happy. “Who do you think you are, your old man?”

Lizzie turned to him. “Bobby, Sam’s just as capable as I am, and I go out on my own all the time as well.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t like that either,” Bobby mumbled, taking a drink of his beer.

Dean frowned as he noticed something and got up to check it out.

Ignoring my brother, I kept my attention on the old man. “I’m sorry, Bobby. I should have called. I was pretty messed up.”

“Oh yeah,” Dean spoke up, turning to show us the pink bra he’d just found on the floor of my room. “I really feel your pain.”

I scoffed lightly. “Anyways, uh, I was checking these demons out of Tennessee, and out of nowhere they took a hard left, booked up here.”

“When?” Dean asked, taking a seat next to me.

“Yesterday morning.”

“When I busted out.”

Bobby looked to Dean. “You think these demons are here 'cause of you?”

“But why?” I frowned.

“Well, I don’t know… some badass demon drags me out and now this?” Dean shook his head. “It’s gotta be connected somehow.”

“How you feelin’, anyway?” Bobby asked, watching him carefully.

Dean shrugged. “I’m a little hungry.”

“No, I mean, do you feel like yourself? Anything strange, or different?”

“Or demonic?” Dean finished for him. “Bobby, how many times do I have to prove I’m me?”

“Yeah. Well, listen. No demon’s letting you loose out of the goodness of their hearts. They’ve gotta have something nasty planned.” Bobby had a point.

“Well, I feel fine,” Dean insisted.

Changing the subject, I spoke up. “Okay, look, we don’t know what they’re planning. We got a pile of questions and no shovel. We need help.”

“I know a psychic,” Bobby suggested. “A few hours from here. Something this big, maybe she’s heard the other side talking.”

“We’re going.” Lizzie stood up, leaving no room for discussion.

“Okay then.” Bobby got to his feet as well, gesturing to the door. “I’ll be right back”

As he moved to leave, Dean got up as well, him and Lizzie stepping around the follow Bobby. Lizzie left, but before Dean could get far, I stopped him.

“Hey, wait.” Standing, I reached into my shirt. “You probably want this back.” Pulling out the necklace I was wearing, I showed Dean that it was the necklace I’d given to him years ago.

He looked down at it as I placed it in the palm of his hand. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, don’t mention it.” I shrugged, watching as he put it on. “Hey Dean, what was it like?”

“What, Hell?” He looked up at me. “I don’t know, I- I must have blacked it out. I don’t remember a damn thing.”

“Well, thank God for that.”

“Yeah.”

**DPOV**

“She’s about four hours down the Interstate.” Bobby told us as he led us down some stairs to the parking lot before moving to his car. “Try to keep up.”

I gave him a simple nod as Sam, Liz and I moved further down the lot.

“I assume you’ll want to drive.” Sam pulled keys out of his pocket and tossed them at me.

I caught them effortlessly, chuckling. “Oh, I almost forgot!” As we reached Baby, I ran my hand over her lovingly. “Hey, sweetheart, did you miss me?”

Getting into the driver’s seat, I was just about to settle in when I spotted something plugged into the stereo. Pausing, I gave it a look as Sam and Liz got in the car- Sam next to me and Liz in the back.

“What the hell is that?” I glared at my brother.

“That’s an iPod jack.”

“You were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up.”

“Dean, I thought it was my car.”

I sneered and sighed, turning the ignition on. As the car roared to life _Vision_ by Jason Manns began to play. Rolling my eyes, I glared at Sam again. “Really?”

He just shrugged as Liz chuckled lightly. Reaching forward, I ripped the iPod out of the jack and tossed it in the back seat before I drove off, reminding myself to never leave my Baby with Sam again.

**EPOV**

Sitting in the back of the Impala, feeling her vibrate under me as she roared, looking out the window at the starry night sky, turning to the brothers in the front seat. I felt good. I felt amazing. You have no idea how good I felt, how happy I was. My life was finally looking bright. I had friends, family, Dean. Everything was falling into place.

“There’s still one thing that’s bothering me,” Dean spoke up.

“Yeah?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, the night that I bit it. Or… got bit.” Dean chuckled at his own joke. “How’d the two of you make it out? I thought Lilith was going to kill you both.”

“Well, she tried,” Sam admitted. “She couldn’t.”

His answer had Dean frowning. “What do you mean, she couldn’t?”

Sam shrugged. “She fired this, like, burning light at us, and… didn’t leave a scratch. Like we were immune or something.”

“Immune?”

“Mm-hmm,” I chimed in. “You should have seen her face.”

“Yeah.” Sam grinned lightly. “I don’t know who was more surprised, her or us. She left pretty fast after that.”

“Huh. What about Ruby, where is she?”

“Dead. For now,” Sam lied.

There was a moment of hesitation before Dean spoke again. “So, you’ve been using your, uh, freaky ESP stuff?” he asked, looking to his brother and then to me briefly.

“No,” another lie from Sam, but I wasn’t going to say a thing.

“You sure about that?” Dean pressed. “Well, I mean, now that you’ve got… immunity, whatever the hell that is… just wondering what other kind of weirdo crap you’ve got going on.”

“Nothing, Dean. Look, you didn’t want me to go down that road, so I didn’t go down that road. It was practically your dying wish.”

“Yeah, well, let’s keep it that way.” Dean gave a short nod before looking to me through the rear-view mirror. “What about you? You still moving things with your mind?”

“Yes.” I shrugged. “But that shouldn’t be a surprise. I used it before.”

The look on his face told me he didn’t approve. I knew he wouldn’t. But that didn’t mean I was going to stop.

**Bamby**


	2. Castiel

**EPOV**

The sun was up now. Walking onto the porch of a familiar house, my face lit up with a smile as the front door opened and a woman I knew and loved stepped out.

"Lizzie!" She grabbed me and pulled me into her arms, squeezing me in a tight hug.

I laughed. "Pamela!" Hugging her back, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as my feet left the ground.

Putting me down, she shook her head. "I swear you get more gorgeous every time I see you." Still smiling, she looked to Bobby. "Bobby!" She stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, lifting him off the ground just like she'd done to me.

Sam and Dean shared a surprised look, waiting behind Bobby and Pamela.

"You're a sight for sore eyes." Bobby smiled, stepping back.

Pamela turned to the brothers, looking them up and down. "So, these the boys?"

"Sam, Dean. This is Pamela Barnes, best damn psychic in the state," Bobby introduced.

"Hey." Dean grinned, flirting- but not as much as he usually did.

Sam's response was a little more awkward. "Hi."

"Mm-mmm-mmm." Pamela chuckled lightly. "Dean Winchester. Out of the fire and back in the frying pan, huh? Makes you a rare individual."

"If you say so." He shrugged.

"Come on in." Nodding to the door, she ushered us in, first Bobby, then the brothers and lastly me.

"So, you hear anything?" Bobby asked, getting to business.

Pamela sighed, closing the door. "Well, I Ouija'd my way through a dozen spirits. No one seems to know who broke your boy out, or why."

"So, what's next? A séance?" I asked, a little excited.

Nodding, Pamela came to stand next to me, looking amused at my excitement. "We'll see if we can see who did the deed."

"You're not gonna... summon the damn thing here." Bobby didn't sound too confident.

"No. I just want to get a sneak peek at it. Like a crystal ball without the crystal." Pamela grinned, grabbing my hand. "Come on. You can help me set up."

**DPOV**

Sam and I stood back as Pamela, Bobby and Liz got everything set up for the séance. I wasn't too confident with the plan, but I was desperate enough to try anything at this point.

Watching the others move around, I stopped when I spotted Pamela squatting in front of a cabinet. The way she was bent over, I could see a tattoo scrawled across her lower back that read ' _Jesse Forever_ '.

"Who's Jesse?" I asked.

She laughed. "Well, it wasn't forever."

"His loss."

Shaking her head, she stood and moved to the table, carrying several pillar candles. "Might be your gain." She grinned, passing me.

Once she was gone, I turned to Sam, my voice low. "Dude, I am so in."

He shook his head, smirking. "Yeah, she's gonna eat you alive."

"Hey, I just got out of jail. Bring it."

Coming back over to us, Pamela gave Sam a wink. "You're invited too, grumpy. Lizzie as well, if she wants." She gave me a knowing look before moving on.

I turned to Sam. "You are _not_ invited."

He just chuckled. "What about Lizzie?"

"Shut up." I glared.

**EPOV**

The five of us sat at the table, each of us in front of a point of the pentagram painted on the cloth on the table. Six candles sat in the middle, the only light in the dark, black room.

Taking a deep breath, Pamela began. "Right. Take each other's hands," she told us, grabbing one of mine. "And I need to touch something our mystery monster touched." She slid her other hand under the table.

Dean jumped. "Whoa! Well, he didn't touch me there."

She laughed lightly, bringing her hand back up to the table. "My mistake."

Looking around nervously, Dean moved to take his outer shirt off one arm before pulling that sleeve up, revealing a branded handprint on his skin.

I gasped, wanting to reach out and touch it. "Dean..."

At the sound of my voice, his eyes locked on to mine, giving me a reassuring look. He was fine. I mean, he wasn't in Hell anymore, so he was fine. Right?

"Okay. " Pamela rested her hand on the mark before closing her eyes- which the rest of us then did as she began to chant. " _I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle._ "

In the background, behind me, I heard a TV flick on and the sound of static buzz, but Pamela wasn't distracted by it as she continued.

" _I invoke, conjure, and command_ _-_ " Stopping for a moment, she spoke instead of chanted, "Castiel? No. Sorry, Castiel, I don't scare easy."

"Castiel?" Dean asked.

"Its name," she explained. "It's whispering to me, warning me to turn back." The static continued as the table began to shake, Pamela going on with the chanting. " _I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face._ "

"Maybe we should stop," Bobby suggested, worrying smothering his voice.

"I almost got it," she insisted. " _I command you, show me your face! Show me your face now!_ "

Suddenly the candle on the table flared up as Pamela began to scream.

My eyes snapped open as I moved to help her. She was collapsing to the ground, now unconscious. Falling to my knees, I held her to me carefully. "Pamela?"

"Call 911!" Bobby yelled.

Sam scrambled to his feet and rushed out of the room.

Pamela stirred, taking a deep breath. I watched as her bleeding and now badly burnt eye lids opened, revealing nothing inside. Her eyes were completely gone.

"I can't see!" she sobbed. "I can't see! Oh god!"

**DPOV**

"Be up in a jiff." The waitress smiled at me before walking off.

I was sitting at a table in a diner. Sam was outside on the phone to Liz. She and Bobby had gone to the hospital with Pamela after the ambulance took her away. I felt bad about it all, and wanted to go as well, but I knew there was more we had to do first.

Walking into the diner, Sam spoke into his phone. "You bet." He nodded, taking a seat in front of me as he hung up.

"What'd Liz say?" I asked.

"Pam's stable. And out of I.C.U."

"And blind, because of us." I felt so guilty. You don't understand how guilty I felt.

"And we still have no clue who we're dealing with," Sam added.

"That's not entirely true."

Sam looked confused. "No?"

"We got a name," I noted. "Castiel, or whatever. With the right mumbo-jumbo we could summon him, bring him right to us."

"You're crazy. Absolutely not." Sam shook his head.

"We'll work him over. I mean, after what he did?"

"Pam took a peek at him and her eyes burned out of her skull, and you want to have a face to face?"

"You got a better idea?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do." He nodded. "I followed some demons to town, right?"

"Okay."

"So, we go find them. Someone's gotta know something about something."

The waitress came back to the table with two plates of pie and set them in front of us before she wiped her hands on her apron and took a seat next to us.

I looked to her expectantly, smirking. "You angling for a tip?"

"I'm sorry. Thought you were looking for us." Her eyes turned black.

My smile fell as my heart began to race. Looking around the room, I caught sight of the cook behind the counter and another person at a table. Their eyes were black as well. There was no one else. Just Sam, me and three demons.

The one at a different table stood and moved to the front door, locking it as he stood guard there.

Turning her eyes back to normal, the waitress looked from Sam, to me. "Dean. To hell and back. Aren't you a lucky duck."

"That's me."

"So you get to just stroll out of the pit, huh? Tell me. What makes you so special?"

I gave a tight smile. "I like to think it's because of my perky nipples." Shaking my head, I dropped the smile. "I don't know. Wasn't my doing, I don't know who pulled me out."

She scoffed. "Right. You don't."

"No. I don't."

"Lying's a sin, you know."

Watching her carefully, I couldn't help but feel as if she was fishing, trying to figure it all out as well... "I'm not lying. But I'd like to find out, so if you wouldn't mind enlightening me, Flo..."

"Mind your tone with me, boy. I'll drag you back to hell myself."

Sam shifted, getting ready to attack. Before he could do anything, I lifted a hand to stop him. He looked confused, but settled in his seat again, though stayed tense and ready for action.

I shook my head at the waitress. "No, you won't."

"No?"

"No. Because if you were you would have done it already. Fact is, you don't know who cut me loose. And you're just as spooked as we are. And you're looking for answers. Well, maybe it was some turbo-charged spirit. Or, uh, Godzilla. Or some big bad boss demon. I'm guessing at your pay grade that they don't tell you squat. Because whoever it was, they want me out. And they're a lot stronger than you. So go ahead. Send me back. But don't come crawling to me when they show up on your front doorstep with some Vaseline and a fire hose."

She glared at me. "I'm going to reach down your throat and rip out your lungs."

Leaning forward, a challenge in my eyes, I reached over and back handed her right across the cheek. She straightened up again, but I simple slapped her once more.

Doing nothing, she looked from Sam to me, glaring. But under that glare I could see nerves. She was scared.

I scoffed at her. "That's what I thought. Let's go, Sam." Standing up, I pulled out some cash as Sam left. Throwing the notes on the table, I looked down at the waitress. "For the pie."

Walking out of the diner, I tried to walk as causally as possible, while also trying to get out of there as fast as I could.

The moment I was on the street, the door closed behind me, I took a deep breath. "Holy crap, that was close."

"We're not just going to leave them in there, are we, Dean?" Sam asked as we crossed the road and headed for Baby.

"Well yeah, there's three of them, probably more, and we've only got one knife between us."

"I've been killing a lot more demons than that lately."

"Not anymore. The smarter brother's back in town."

"Dean, we've got to take 'em. They are dangerous."

"They're scared. Okay? Scared of whatever had the juice to yank me out. We're dealing with a bad mofo here. One job at a time."

**SPOV**

I looked over at Dean as he slept on the bed with a book on his lap. He'd fallen asleep a little while ago while researching. I'd been waiting to see if he would wake, wanting to get out of here. I was itching to do something, to let off some steam.

When I was sure he wasn't going to wake up, I snuck out of the room and started for the hotel exit. I wouldn't be gone long. I'd be back before he woke up, and before Lizzie and Bobby got back.

At least I hoped I would be. Last thing I need was for the three of them to start asking questions.

**DPOV**

The sound of static on the TV and the radio whining, woke me up. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked around. In an instant, I realised what was happening. It was here.

My eyes landed on the shotgun by the other side of the bed. Rolling over, I grabbed it and got to my feet, finger on the trigger, ready.

Sam's bed was empty, the bathroom light off. He was gone. I was alone. _Great..._

Aiming at the door, I waited for whatever was coming to break through. It was the only way in the building, the only way the thing could get me. I was sure that's what it wanted. Me. Why else would it drag me out of hell?

Just like at the store earlier, a high-pitched ringing noise started. Getting louder and higher until it was too painful to bear. Keeping the gun up with one hand, I used the other to press against one ear as my other ear pressed against my shoulder, trying to block out the noise.

The mirror on the ceiling shattered, the pieces falling on to me. Dropping the gun, I dropped to the ground, clutching both ears with my hands as all the glass in the room exploded into the room.

The front door burst opened at Bobby and Liz rushed in.

"Dean!"

Liz took one look at me and ran into the room, helping me to me feet and out of the room as she used her body to shield me from the glass as it continued to explode.

**EPOV**

I sat in the back of Bobby's car, cleaning Dean up. He'd insisted he was fine, but I knew better. He'd been cut up by some of the glass that had shattered, and his ear had been bleeding from the high-pitched noise we'd all heard in his room.

"How you doin', kid?" Bobby asked as he looked at us through the rear-view mirror.

"Aside from the church bells ringing in my head, peachy." Dean mumbled as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Dean..." I sighed. "I'm not finished."

"I'm fine, Liz. Promise." He gave me a reassuring smile before dialling a number into his phone and then pressed it to his ear.

I knew who he was calling. Sam. There was no one else.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked him. There was a pause before he spoke again, "In my car?" Another pause. "Well, uh, Bobby and Liz are back. We're going to grab a beer." When I opened my mouth to speak, he lifted a finger to stop me. Nodding to the phone, he went on, "Done. Catch you later." He hung up.

"Why the hell didn't you tell him?" Bobby asked before I had the chance to.

"Because he'd just tried to stop us."

I frowned, not liking the sound of that. "And what would he be stopping us from doing?"

"Summoning this thing," Dean answered. At the shocked looks Bobby and I gave him, Dean added, "It's time we faced it head-on."

"You can't be serious!" Bobby clearly didn't like this plan, and to be honest, neither did I.

"As a heart attack. It's high noon, baby."

"Well, we don't know what it is. It could be a demon, it could be anything," Bobby noted.

"That's why we've got to be ready for anything." Pulling Ruby's demon knife out of his jacket, Dean looked over at Bobby. "We've got the big-time magic knife, you've got an arsenal in the trunk..."

I shook my head, eyes on the blade. "I'm not too sure about this Dean..."

Bobby nodded, agreeing with me. "She's right. This is a bad idea."

"Yeah, I couldn't agree more, but what other choice do we have?" Dean did have a good point.

"We could choose life," Bobby suggested.

"Bobby, whatever this is, whatever it wants, it's after me. That much we know, right? I've got no place to hide. I can either get caught with my pants down again, or we can make our stand."

The idea of this thing going after Dean, of it may be taking him away again, suddenly it didn't matter how dangerous it might be, I was willing to do whatever it took to keep Dean safe.

**SPOV**

Back at the diner Dean and I had been at earlier- only now it was closed seeing at it was the middle of the night- I snuck in through the front door after picking its lock. Looking over at the counter, I paused.

The cook from before was dead, face down on the floor, his hands bloody.

Moving over to him, I carefully rolled him on to his back. Just like Pamela, his eyes were gone, burnt and melted out of their sockets.

Out of nowhere, a figure came out from behind me, pushing me away from the body.

The two of us traded a few blows before I pushed whoever it was away long enough to see that it was the waitress. Only now, her eyes were gone too. Blood trails ran down her cheeks, and she was clearly scared out of her mind. She'd seen the thing too.

Lowering my hands- though still ready for a fight- I spoke up. "Your eyes."

"I can still smell your soul a mile away."

"It was here. You saw it."

She sobbed, nodding. "I saw it."

"What was it?"

"It's the end. We're dead. We're all dead."

"What did you see?" I pressed, wanting to know what this thing was.

Her sobs stopped as she sneered at me. "Go to hell."

"Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you."

Taking a step back, I shut my eyes to concentrate and lifted my hand towards the demon. Taking a deep breath, I focused on drawing her essence out, on pulling the demon from its human vessel. I could hear her choking at I continued. She struggled, but was no match as I finished pulling all the demon out of the human girl.

As I opened my eyes I looked down right in time to see the black smoke melt into the ground. Once it was gone I moved over to check the pulse of the woman, but she was dead.

I let out a sigh of disappointment. "Damn it."

The kitchen door opened as Ruby walked into the room. "Getting pretty slick there, Sam. Better all the time."

Getting to my feet, I looked down at the body on the floor. "What the hell is going on around here, Ruby?"

"I wish I knew."

"We were thinking some high-level demon pulled Dean out."

"No way." She shook her head. "Sam, human souls don't just walk out of Hell and back into their bodies easy. The sky bleeds, the ground quakes. It's cosmic. No demon can swing that. Not Lilith, not anybody."

"Then what can?"

"Nothing I've ever seen before."

**DPOV**

Standing at a table in a warehouse, Liz on my right, I looked over at Bobby as he finished spray painting a few symbols on the floor. The place was covered in symbols, the walls, roof, floor and door.

"That's a hell of an art project you've got going there," I noted as Liz kept setting up all the weapons on the table we were in front of.

Finishing up, Bobby walked over to us. "Traps and talismans from every faith on the globe. How you doin?"

I gestured to the weapons laid out before me. "Stakes, iron, silver, salt, knife. I mean, we're pretty much set to catch and kill anything I've ever heard of."

Bobby shook his head. "This is still a bad idea."

"Yeah, Bobby, I heard you the first ten times," I sighed. "What do you say we ring the dinner bell?"

Nodding reluctantly, Bobby moved over to the other table, taking a pinch of some kind of powder and sprinkled into a large bowl full of other ingredient which began to smoke as he began to chant.

Liz took a deep breath next to me, clenching and unclenching her hands. "Here goes nothing."

**SPOV**

Still in the diner, I seat across from Ruby at one of the table.

"So." She folded her arms over her chest. "Million-dollar question, are you going to tell Dean about what we're doing?"

"Yeah, I just gotta figure out the right way to say it." When she gave me a look, I sighed. "Look, I just need time, okay? That's all."

"Sam, he's going to find out, and if it's not from you he's going to be pissed."

"He's going to be pissed anyway. I mean, he's so hardheaded about this psychic stuff he'll just try and stop me."

"You think Lizzie will tell him?"

I shook my head. "If she was going to say anything she would have the moment she saw you. Besides, she's got secrets too."

"Yeah, but still…" She took a breath, shrugging. "Maybe I'll just take a step back for a while."

"Ruby-"

She cut me off, "I mean, I'm not exactly in your brother's fan-club. But he is your brother, and I'm not going to come between you."

"I don't know if what I'm doing is right. Hell, I don't even know if I trust you."

"Thanks," she responded, offended.

Ignoring her tone, I went on, "But what I do know is that I'm saving people. And stopping demons. And that feels good. I want to keep going."

**DPOV**

Bobby had finished the ritual a while ago, now the three of us were sitting on the tables, waiting, bored out of our minds.

I kept looking over at Liz who seemed focused on the ground in front of her. I couldn't help but feel like there was something different about her. Out of the million times I'd thought about how it would be like to come back to earth- which I did a lot of while in Hell- I'd always pictured our reunion different...

As I continued to watch her, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a container of little red pills. I frowned as she popped one of the pills in her mouth and swallowed, before putting the container back into her pocket. But before I could say or ask or anything, the roof began to shake suddenly.

The three of us jumped off the tables and grabbed our weapons, aiming them at the door as we stood at the far end of the warehouse.

"Wishful thinking, but maybe it's just the wind," I yelled over the noise.

The doors burst open, revealing a man in a suit and trench coat standing outside. He walked in, the light bulbs above his head shattering in a shower of sparks as he passes them. Moving in a slow, carefree pace, he kept walking towards us.

Altogether, Bobby, Liz and I lifted our guns and began firing at the man. But the shots didn't even slow him down.

Seeing that they were doing nothing, I dropped my gun on the table and grabbed the demon knife before I stepped in front of Liz protectively, watching the man as he stopped in front of me.

Tightening my grip on the knife behind my back, I spoke. "Who are you?"

"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition."

"Yeah. Thanks for that." Moving quickly, I brought the knife out from behind me and plunged it into his chest.

He just looked down at it, unconcerned, not even slightly hurt. As I pulled back, taking Liz with me, the guy reached for the handle of the knife and pulled it out before dropping the weapon to the floor.

Bobby- who was behind the guy- went to attack him.

Without looking, the guy grabbed the iron rod Bobby's been about to hit him with. Turning around, the guy lifted two fingers to Bobby's forehead and within seconds Bobby was out like a light, crumbling to the ground.

Turning back to Liz and me, the guy spoke again. "We need to talk, Dean. Alone." He gave Liz a pointed look.

I shook my head, moving to stand in front of her more. "You're not touching her. I don't know what you did to Bobby-"

"Your friend's alive." The guy gestured to Bobby. "He's just unconscious. And she should be too." As he took a step towards us, I took a step back, taking Liz with me still.

"Don't."

There was nothing I could do to stop him, but if he wanted to talk to me then he was gonna have to do it with Liz awake. There was no way I was letting anything happen to her, and there was no way I was letting this guy take away all my back up.

When he stopped moving towards me, giving up, I relaxed- ever so slightly. "Who are you?"

"Castiel."

I glared at him. "Yeah, I figured that much, I mean _what_ are you?"

"I'm an Angel of the Lord."

Looking him up and down, I shook my head, not believing him. "Get the hell out of here. There's no such thing."

"This is your problem, Dean. You have no faith."

Lightning flashed, the light coming in through the open doors of the warehouse. Behind Castiel I watched as the shadow of great wings spread along the walls off the building. As the light flashed again, the image was gone.

So, sure, it might be true, but that meant nothing to me. Not after what he did to Pam. "Some angel you are. You burned out that poor woman's eyes."

"I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be... overwhelming to humans, and so can my real voice. But you already knew that."

"You mean the gas station and the motel. That was you talking?" I asked, which he answered with a nod. "Buddy, next time, lower the volume."

"That was my mistake. Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong."

"And what visage are you in now, huh? What, holy tax accountant?"

"This?" He looked down at his body. "This is... a vessel."

"You're possessing some poor bastard?"

"He's a devout man, he actually prayed for this," he said as if that made it all okay.

"Well, I'm not buying what you're selling, so who are you really?"

He frowned, confused. "I told you."

"Right. And why would an angel rescue me from Hell?"

"Good things do happen, Dean."

"Not in my experience."

"What's the matter? You don't think you deserve to be saved?" He took a step closer.

Liz's hand gripped on to the back of my jacket as she stepped closer to me. She may be staying quiet, but I knew she was there, ready to back me up. She was always ready to back me up.

"Why'd you do it?" I asked, looking to Castiel.

"Because God commanded it," he answered simply. "Because we have work for you."

**Bamby**


	3. Ghosts and Dead Hunters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Angst. Slight violence.

**EPOV**

I sat on the couch in Bobby's study, flicking through a book while watching my phone, waiting for it to light up and tell me I had a message. I was still freaked after meeting the angel the other day, and wanted to get out on my own for a while. Well… kind of. It's a long story...

Reaching over to my bag, I opened the small bottle that sat inside and poured a pill into my palm. Grabbing the glass of water that sat on the floor by me, I took a sip and put the pill in my mouth before swallowing. The sound of the two Winchester brother arguing in the kitchen caught my attention as the pill slid down my throat.

"Well, then tell me what else it could be." Sam believed Castiel had been an angel, but Dean didn't.

"Look, all I know is I was not groped by an angel." Dean sounded so sure of himself.

"Okay, look, Dean. Why do you think this Castiel would lie to you about it?"

Dean shrugged. "Maybe he's some kind of demon. Demons lie."

"A demon who's immune to salt rounds and devil's traps... and Ruby's knife? Dean, Lilith is scared of that thing!" Sam had a good point.

"Don't you think that if angels were real, that some hunter somewhere would have seen one... at some point... ever?"

"Yeah. You just did, Dean."

Dean sighed. "I'm trying to come up with a theory here. Okay? Work with me."

Sam shook his head. "Dean, we have a theory."

"Yeah, one with a little less fairy dust on it, please."

"Okay, look. I'm not saying we know for sure. I'm just saying that I think we-"

Dean cut him off, "Okay, okay. That's the point. We don't know for sure, so I'm not gonna believe that this thing is a freaking Angel of the Lord because it says so!"

Rolling his eyes, Bobby looked up from the book he'd been reading and called out to the two brothers, "You two chuckleheads want to keep arguing religion, or do you want to come take a look at this?"

Reluctantly, both walked over to stand in front of the desk Bobby sat at.

Once they were in front of him, Bobby got to work. "I got stacks of lore. Biblical, pre-Biblical. Some of it's in damn cuneiform. It all says an angel can snatch a soul from the pit."

"What else?" Dean asked.

Bobby frowned up at him, confused. "What else, what?"

"What else could do it?"

"Airlift your ass out of the hot box?" Bobby shook his head. "As far as I can tell, nothing."

Looking over at Dean it was clear he didn't like the answer. I wasn't sure why this was bugging him so much, but clearly it was.

"Dean, this is good news," Sam assured him, smiling.

But it didn't seem to ease Dean's mind at all. "How?"

"Because for once, this isn't just another round of demon crap." Sam shrugged. "I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys, you know?"

"Okay. Say it's true. Say there are angels. Then what? There's a God?"

"I'm putting my money on yes," I spoke up, pulling myself up from the couch and moving to the brothers.

Dean turned and took a few steps away from us, still not buying it. "I don't know, guys."

Sam sighed, watching his brother. "Okay, look. I know you're not all choirboy about this stuff, but this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof."

"Proof?" Dean turned back to us.

"Yes." Sam gave a short nod.

"Proof that there's a God out there that actually gives a crap about me personally? I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it."

I frowned. "Why not?"

Looking to each of us, Dean sighed before he answered. "Because why me? If there is a God out there, why would he give a crap about me?"

"Dean-"

He cut Sam off, "I mean, I've saved some people, okay? I figured that made up for the stealing and the ditching chicks. But why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy."

I could not believe what I was hearing. I mean, I knew Dean didn't think much about himself, but I never thought it was like this. Dean was one of the most loyal people I knew. He cared about others, did the best he could, and hardly ever put himself first. He was one of the best people I knew.

"Apparently, you're a regular guy that's important to the man upstairs," Sam told him.

"Well, that creeps me out. I mean, I don't like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by... God."

Shrugging, Sam folded his arms over his chest. "Okay, well, too bad, Dean, because I think he wants you to strap on your party hat."

"Fine." Sighing, Dean turned to Bobby. "What do we know about angels?"

Bobby reached over and slid a large pile of old books on to the middle of his desk. "Start reading."

Looking at the pile of books, Dean shook his head as he turned to his brother, not liking this at all. "You're gonna get me some pie." There was no room for discussion as he grabbed a book from the pile and moved over to the couch.

**SPOV**

I stopped the Impala outside a corner store, putting the car into park as I spoke on the phone. "Yes, Dean, I'll get the chips."

" _And don't forget my pie._ "

"Dude. When have I ever forgotten the pie?"

There was a pause before he answered, as if he had to think about it. " _Never_."

"Exactly." Getting out of the car, I turned to the shop, only to stop when I spotted Ruby waiting. "I got to go." He kept on talking but I didn't really hear him. "Yeah, all right. Bye." hanging up, I walked over to Ruby. "Ruby."

She pushed off the wall she'd been leaning on, skipping the pleasant greeting and getting straight to business. "So, is it true?"

I had no idea what she was going on about. "Is what true?"

"Did an angel rescue Dean?"

"You heard."

"Who hasn't?"

"We're not one hundred percent sure, but I think so."

"Okay. Bye, Sam." She suddenly turned and went to walk away.

I grabbed her arm before she could leave, stopping and turned her to face me. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. What's going on?"

"Sam, they're angels. I'm a demon. They're not gonna care if I'm being helpful. They smite first, and then they ask questions later."

"What do you know about them?"

"Not much. I've never met one, and I don't really want to. All I know is that they scare the holy hell out of me. Watch yourself, Sam."

I laughed lightly. "I'm not scared of angels."

She gave me a look I couldn't quite read but I thought I saw hurt, maybe worry, before she walked off, leaving me alone.

...

I pulled up by Bobby's garage, seeing him walking over to the car. Once he reached me, he leaned into the passenger window. "Keep the engine running."

"Why?" I looked over at Dean and Lizzie as they put some bags into the trunk of Bobby's car. "What's going on?"

"I got a friend one state over. Olivia Lowry. I've been trying to reach her for three days on this angel thing. It's not like her to ignore this many calls."

"Olivia Lowry. A hunter, right?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "We're gonna go check on her. You guys follow me." He pulled back as the others came over to the car.

Lizzie got in the back as Dean moved to my door. "Scoot over."

"Yeah." I did as he said, moving to the passenger side.

Getting into the car, he reached for the bag of food before his door was even closed. Looking in, he didn't seem too pleased. "Dude?"

"Yeah?" I asked, wondering what might be wrong.

"Where's the pie?"

**DPOV**

Bobby entered the house first. I was next, the Lizzie, then Sam. We all had our weapons raised, ready just in case. Bobby had been worried, and none of us were taking that lightly.

"Olivia?" Bobby called, walking further into the house.

We all stopped when we entered the living room, seeing the body of a woman- who I presumed was Olivia- lying on the floor, covered in blood.

Bobby turned and walked out of the place before anyone could stop him.

I was about to call out to him when I saw the look on Liz's face. She looked horrified, on the edge of tears as her eyes refused to look away from the scene in front of her. That's when it clicked.

"You knew her?"

She nodded slowly. "Hunted with her and Bobby once or twice."

Sometimes I forgot that Liz had known Bobby longer than we'd known her. He saved her years ago, during a case that almost killed her and gave her the scar she had on her ribs. He took care of her for a few years when she was a teenager. He was the one who taught her how to hunt.

The fact she knew Olivia wasn't really a surprise. She'd met a lot of hunter while working and living with Bobby.

Out of instinct, I stepped closer to her. "I'm sorry." I was just about to wrap an arm around her in a comforting hug, when Sam spoke up.

"Salt line." He nodded to the doorway of the bedroom where Olivia's body was.

Sure enough, a line of salt ran across the length of the door way.

Liz walked away from me then, stepping into the room and moving to the wardrobe that had a hidden compartment where some weapons had bene stashed.

I followed her, grabbing an EMR reader from the stash. "Olivia was rocking the EMF meter."

Sam nodded, crouching down by the body. "Spirit activity."

"Yeah, on steroids. I never seen a ghost do this to a person." I gestured to the body, where the ghosts had ripped Olivia's chest open and ripped out her heart.

Bobby walked back into the apartment, stopping in the bedroom doorway, his phone in his hand.

I looked him up and down, knowing something other than Olivia's body was worrying him. "Bobby, you all right?"

"I called some hunters nearby..."

"Good." I nodded. "We can use their help."

"Except they ain't answering their phones either."

Sam stood from where he'd been checking the body out. "Something's up, huh?"

Liz tensed beside me. "You think something's going after hunters?"

Sam turned to her suddenly. "Lizzie-"

Before he could finish, Liz pulled out her phone and started dialling a number. Lifting it to her ear, she waited a moment before her face fell. She tried dialling again, but there was still no answer.

There were a number of hunters she could have been calling. I knew she knew a lot of hunter. I also knew she was friends with a number of them- but not all. The two that were the most important and not in this room being Jo and Ellen.

She kept trying as she hurried out of the apartment, clearly stressing and worrying more than before.

**EPOV**

I was on the phone to Bobby, walking down the porch stairs of a Jed's house. He was a hunter I'd met twice. He'd been a pretty decent guy and a pretty decent hunter. That was until his chest was ripped open and his heart was ripped out.

"Jed's gone too, Bobby. Have you heard from-"

He cut me off, " _I talked to Ellen and Jo. They're both fine. I told them both to hunker down until we figure this thing out._ "

"Thank god." I let out a sigh of relief. "What about you? How's your end of things?"

" _I checked on Carl Bates and R.C. Adams. They've redecorated… in red._ "

I came to a stop by Baby, the brother's moving to their doors. "Bobby, what is going on? What, did a ghost decide to start ganking hunters? Knock us off one by one?"

" _I don't know, but until we find out, you guys better get your asses to my place_."

"We're on our way." Hanging up, I got into the car, looking over at Dean as he sat behind the wheel. "Bobby wants us to head over to his. Everyone he went to is dead as well."

Shaking his head, Dean turned the ignition on. "What the hell is going on here?"

...

Dean was fast asleep in the passenger seat while Sam now drove us down the road. I was still in the back, looking out the window while also concentrating on my phone in my hand, waiting for a call or message.

My attention was pulled to Sam as he turned into a service station and stopped the car by the pumps.

"Hey." He turned around to look at me. "I gotta go to the bathroom, you mind-"

"Filling her up?" I gave a short nod. "Sure."

I got out of the car and moved to put some gas in Baby, while Sam headed over to the toilets. As I waited for the car to fill up I watched Dean in the passenger seat, still asleep, his head leaning on the door. He looked adorable sleeping like that...

A buzzing in my pocket had me quickly pulling out my phone to read the message.

_Don't know why you're worried, but I'm fine. Just working a case._

_I'll talk to you when I'm done._

_Don't forget to take your medication._

_Love you xox_

_\- T_

The worry I'd been feeling all day eased at that one message.

_He's fine._ I nodded. _See, he's fine._

But just as I was beginning to feel relieved, the sound of a commotion in the bathroom pushed all the worry back into place. _Sam_...

Hitting the roof of Baby, I woke Dean up before moving to pull the pump out of the car.

"What the hell, Liz?"

"Sam needs help!" I told him as I started rushing towards the bathroom, knowing Dean would be right behind me.

**SPOV**

I was washing my hands in the bathroom sink when the room suddenly went cold. Looking up at the mirror in front of me I found it was covered with a foggy mist caused by the sudden temperature change.

_Well, this can't be good..._

Lifting a hand, I wiped away some of the mist, jumping at the sight of a young woman behind me.

She smiled, shifting on the spot a little. "Hi, Sam."

It took a second, because of the change in hairstyle and clothes, but as I turned to face her, recognised who was standing in front of me. "Meg."

She nodded, gesturing to her hair- which was longer than her blonde pixie cut from before, and now more of a honey colour. "This is what I looked like before that demon cut off my hair and dressed me like a slut. Before it took over my body. Before I died."

Looking her up and down, I shook my head, feeling so guilty about everything that happened to her. "I'm sorry."

"Are you?"

"Look, if we'd known-"

"You wouldn't have left me to die? You wouldn't have let that monster do all those things while in my body? You wouldn't have _killed_ me?!" She lunged forward, grabbing and throwing me across the room.

I crashed into some old lockers, but didn't even have time to fall to the ground before Meg was there, grabbing me, holding me up. As she gripped onto my jacket I looked down and noticed a mark on her hand, but didn't have much time to think about it before she shoved me against a wall and then threw me against the mirror.

The mirror smashed as I hit it. Meg grabbed me again, knocking my head on the sink twice. The force of the hits caused my head to go foggy as a pain shot through me. Tossing me to the ground, she looked over me as if ready to finish the job.

"Hey, bitch!" Lizzie called.

Meg only had a moment to react before Lizzie threw her across the room- using her abilities. Dean- who had been a couple steps behind Lizzie- lifted his gun and shot Meg, sending the ghost away.

**DPOV**

Speeding down the road, phone pressed to my ear, I shook my head at the fact Bobby still wasn't answering his phone. "Damn it, Bobby! Pick up!" I snapped, hanging up. Sam side next to me, catching my attention. "How you feeling, huh? How many fingers am I holding up?" I asked, without lifting a hand

"None. I'll be fine, Dean," he insisted, sounding annoyed that I kept asking. But I was worried. It was my job to worry about him.

Liz leaned forward so her head was between Sam's and mine. "Who was the chick, anyway?"

"Meg," Sam answered without missing a beat.

I frowned, grabbing my phone to try and call Bobby again. "Meg? The demon?"

"No." Sam sighed again. "Meg Masters, the girl the demon possessed."

"Why her?" I didn't get it. She died years ago. "What did she want?"

"Revenge, 'cause we got her killed." It really sounded like he believed that.

"Sam."

He shrugged at me. "Well, we did, Dean."

Hanging up the phone once more, I shook my head as I turned to him. "All right. Stop right there. Whatever the hell is going on, it's happening to us now, okay? I can't get a hold of Bobby, so if you're not thinking answers, don't think at all."

There was already enough crap surrounding us, the last thing we needed was for some old guilt to poke it's head up and distract us. Right now, we need to focus on making sure Bobby was okay and then figure out what's killing hunters.

**EPOV**

Dean entered the house first, I was second, followed by Sam, all of us armed and ready. We stopped in the entrance, looking around, trying to listen out for any sounds. When the place stayed silent and still, Dean called out in a whispered tone.

"Bobby?"

With no answer, the three of us moved together, heading over to the kitchen and then to the study, making sure to keep our eyes open for anything. That Meg chick would show up again eventually.

After the study we stepped into the hall way which is where we found an iron poker lying on the ground by the bottom of the stairs.

My heart began to race as I pictured Bobby lying somewhere, just like we'd found Olivia and Jed.

Dean turned to Sam and I, taking charge of the situation. "You two check outside. I'll go upstairs."

There was no need for me to argue or say anything at all. I simply gave a short nod and moved with Sam as we headed for the back door that lead to the garage and junk yard full of old, rusting cars.

I really hoped Bobby was okay, wherever he was.

**DPOV**

Now upstairs, I moved down the hallway slowly. "Bobby?"

At the sound of my voice all the door began to slam shut with a loud bang each. All the doors closed, except one. At the very end of the hall, the last door slowly began to creep open.

"Come out, come out, whoever you are," I called, a moment before the temperature dropped a few degrees.

"Dean Winchester. Still so bossy."

I turned to see Meg standing behind me, looing just like she had in the bathroom hours ago. But she didn't look like she had when she died. This Meg's hair was a honey colour and fell to her shoulders, where the other Meg- the demon Meg- had cut it short and dyed it to a light blonde. She also wore different clothes, more modest clothes.

As she took a step closer I aimed the gun at her.

"It's okay, I'm not a demon," she assured me.

"You're the girl the demon possessed."

"Meg Masters." She nodded. "Nice to finally talk to you when I'm not, you know, choking on my own blood." There was venom in her voice, which had me take a step back. She lifted her hands up carefully, as a sign of peace. "It's okay. Seriously, I'm just a college girl… sorry, _was_. I was walking home one night and got jumped by all this smoke. Next thing you know, I'm a prisoner," she gestured to her head, "in here. Now, I was awake. I had to watch while she murdered people."

"I'm sorry." I meant it too.

The look on her face told me she either didn't care, or didn't believe me. "Oh, yeah? So sorry you had me thrown off a building?"

"Well, we thought-"

She cut me off, yelling. "No, you didn't think! I kept waiting, praying!" As she snapped at me, she moved forward slowly. "I was trapped in there screaming at you! 'Just help me, please!' You're supposed to help people, Dean. Why didn't you help me?" She sounded like she was on the verge of crying.

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

"Stop saying you're sorry!" Raising her fist, she punched me so hard I fell to the ground.

Groaning, I looked up at her, hoping to reach some kind of reasonable side. "Meg. Meg-"

I was cut off as she kicked me.

The force was so strong I was pushed a little further down the hall- and away from my shotgun. She kicked it away before I could even try to reach for it.

"We didn't know."

"No." crouching down so she was closer on my level, she spoke in a calmer tone now. "You just attacked. Did you ever think there was a girl in here? No. You just charged in, slashing and burning. You think you're some kind of hero?"

Gritting my teeth, I answered her question with complete honesty. "No, I don't."

She grabbed my jacket, pulling me a little closer. "You're damn right." As she spoke I looked down and noticed a brand on her hand. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be ridden for months by pure evil... while your family has no idea what happened to you?"

"We did the best we could."

Shoving me away, she got to her feet and kicked me again, clearly not liking my answer.

**SPOV**

Lizzie and I were searching around the yard, looking around and inside the many cars, trying to find Bobby. But so far there was no sign of him. That was until it was suddenly cold...

"Bobby?" I called, hurrying over to the closest cars. "We're here, Bobby?"

Lizzie used her mind to open the trunks and doors and move things out of the way, rushing around as we searched. We looked in every place a person could and might be hidden, moving as fast as we could so we'd get to him before it was too late.

**DPOV**

"It wasn't just me, Dean. I had a sister. A little sister." Meg followed me as I crawled along the floor, trying to get away from her. "She worshipped me. You know how little siblings are, right? How they'll do anything for you. She was never the same after I disappeared. She just... she just got lost. And when my body was lying in the morgue beat-up and broken..."

"Meg-"

"Do you know what that did to her? She killed herself!" She kicked me in the stomach again, hard. It was a wonder that she hadn't broken anything yet. "Because of you, Dean! Because all you were thinking about was your family, your revenge, and your demons! 50 words of Latin a little sooner, and I'd still be alive. My baby sister would still be alive. That blood is on your hands, Dean!"

"You're right."

Yet she just kicked me again, harder.

**SPOV**

As I turned away with the car I was finished with I spotted a mirror on a car on top of a pile, the glass frosting more than everything else. It was actually beginning to crack.

"Lizzie!" I called, getting her attention. Once she turned to me, I gestured to the car as I hurried towards it. "Bobby! Hold on, Bobby! I'm coming! Bobby!"

I climbed up on some other cars to get to the one I was sure Bobby was in. Just before I reached it, Lizzie used her mind to break the door away from the rusted car so I could get in to help Bobby.

But as I reached the gap where the door was I was thrown back by two little girls dressed in dirty white dressed.

I landed on the windshield of another car with a groan.

Before I could recover, one of the girls jumped on top of me, her hand reaching back as she got ready to grab my chest.

Reacting quickly, I used my iron crowbar- that I'd gotten from one of the cars- and swung it at her. Just as she disappeared the other girl went to jump on me, but was stopped and faded away as Bobby hit her with an iron rod.

**DPOV**

Still on the ground, I'd managed to crawl into the room at the end of the hall- which just had a few pieces of furniture against the wall and nothing much else.

Stopping in the middle of the space, I stopped and turned, pulling out my other gun to aim at Meg.

She leaned on the doorway casually watching me with an amused smirk. "Come on, Dean, did your brain get french-fried in Hell?" Pushing off the doorway, she started towards me. "You can't shoot me with bullets."

"I'm not shooting you." Changing my aim, I pointed the gun at the roof and pulled the trigger.

The chandelier fell, landing right where Meg had been standing, causing her to disappear.

"Iron," I explained before rolling onto my back with a groan.

**Bamby**


	4. The Rise of the Witnesses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Angst. Violence.
> 
> Bamby

**EPOV**

The four of us were together again, in Bobby's study, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"So, they're all people we know?" Sam asked.

"Not just know. People we couldn't save," Dean answered as he loaded his gun before pausing as if remembering something. "Hey, I saw something on Meg. Did she have a tattoo when she was alive?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't think so."

"It was like a-a mark on her hand." Dean gestured to his own hand. "Almost like a brand."

Sam's eyes went wide. "I saw a mark on her, too."

Bobby straightened from where he'd been leaning over his desk. "What did it look like?"

"Uh, paper?" Sam took the notepad Bobby offered and drew a quick sketch of the mark. Once he was done he showed it to Dean.

"That's it." Dean gave a short nod.

Sam turned to show Bobby, who took the notepad. "I may have seen this before." Reaching for a few things on the desk, he nodded to the doorway right as the light began to flicker. "We got to move. Follow me."

"Okay, where are we going?" Sam asked as Bobby handed him a few things.

Pausing for a moment, Bobby looked to him. "Some place safe, you idiot." Getting back to it, Bobby grabbed some more things before he hurried out of the room.

Sam was right behind Bobby, with Dean and I close behind. We walked into the basement, heading towards a large, heavy, metal door. With his hands full Bobby couldn't open the it, so I stepped forward to do it for him, letting the guys in first.

It was dark in the room, the only light coming from the large air vent in the roof- which had a fan in it. Once I was inside I flicked the light on so the brothers could see where they were.

The room was completely made out of iron, and covered in pentagrams with a large Devil's trap on the ground. On one side, the walls were lined with a range of weapons. The other side had a bed, a desk that stuck out into the middle of the room, a couch and then a shorter desk that ran along the wall.

As I closed and locked the door, the brothers looked around in amazement.

"Bobby, is this-"

Bobby answered before Sam couldn't finish, "Solid iron. Completely coated in salt. One hundred percent ghost-proof."

Sam looked impressed. "You built a panic room?"

"We had a weekend off." Bobby shrugged.

"'We'?" Dean asked.

I nodded, moving over to take the things from Sam. "I'm more than just a pretty face, Winchester."

Grinning, Dean shook his head as he looked form me to Bobby. "You guys are awesome," he chuckled, grabbing one of the guns off the wall.

...

I sat on the couch, my legs stretched across it as I read the book in my hands. Bobby was at one of the desks reading as well, while Sam and Dean were at the other desk preparing some rock salt ammunition just in case we'd have to leave the safety of the bunker. Which chances are, we'd end up out there again.

"See, this is why I can't get behind God."

I looked away from the book and over to Dean, seeing him frustrated and annoyed.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked before I had a chance to.

"If he doesn't exist, fine." Dean shrugged. "Bad crap happens to good people. That's how it is. There's no rhyme or reason. Just random, horrible, evil. I get it, okay. I can roll with that. But if he is out there, what's wrong with him? Where the hell is he while all these decent people are getting torn to shreds? How does he live with himself? You know, why doesn't he help?"

He had some good points. But if I was being honest, this wouldn't be the first time I've wondered that. Growing up with a religious mother, I was taught not to question things. But after losing my dad and having a pretty rough life, I always wondered why. Then as I got older I just couldn't understand how 'God' could put us on Earth and just leave us like he had. He was the ultimate dead-beat dad.

Instead of responding to Dean, Sam looked over at me before the two of us turned to Bobby, waiting for him to give Dean an explanation or something. Unfortunately, his response wasn't what I'd been hoping for.

He shook his head. "I ain't touching this one with a ten-foot pole." Turning back to his book, he taped his pencil on the page. "Found it."

At least he had something.

Pulling myself up, I moved over to take a look at what he'd found. "The brand is called the Mark of the Witness," I told the guys, reading of the page.

"Witness?" Sam asked, confused. "Witness to what?"

"The unnatural," Bobby answered. "None of them died what you'd call ordinary deaths. See, these ghosts, they were forced to rise. They woke up in agony. They were like rabid dogs. It ain't their fault. Someone rose them... on purpose. "

As Sam opened his mouth to speak, I cut him off. "And before you ask, there's no way to tell who rose them."

"But whoever it was used a spell so powerful it left a mark, a brand on their souls," Bobby noted. "Whoever did this had big plans. It's called 'the rising of the witnesses'. It figures into an ancient prophecy."

"Wait, wait." Shaking his head, Dean stood from his chair and walked over to Bobby and I- Sam followed after a moment. "What- what book is that prophecy from?"

Turning away from the table, I looked to Dean as I answered. "Revelations."

"This is a sign, boys," Bobby started.

"A sign of what?" both brothers asked at the same time.

"The apocalypse."

**DPOV**

"Apocalypse?" I gave a short chuckle. "As in 'apocalypse', apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, five-dollars-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?"

"No, the other apocalypse." The sarcasm dripped off Liz's tone.

"The rise of the witnesses is a- a mile marker," Bobby explained.

Sam nodded, clearly ready to get to work. "Okay, so, what do we do now?"

I scoffed, turning around and moving back to the desk. "Road trip. Grand Canyon, _Star Trek_ Experience." Clapping my hands, I pointed to Sam. "BunnyRanch."

"First things first. How about we survive our friends out there?" Bobby suggested.

Giving a short nod, I sat down and turned to Bobby. "Great. Any ideas aside from staying in this room until Judgment Day?"

"It's a spell," he gestured to the book again, "to send the witnesses back to rest. Should work."

"Should." Sam gave a short laugh. "Great."

"If I translate it correctly."

"Which you will," Liz assured him. Looking down at the book, she nodded. "And we've got all the ingredients in the house. So this _will_ work."

"Any chance you got everything we need here in this room?" I asked with a small smile, hopeful but also doubtful.

Bobby turned to me with a raised eyebrow and slight frown. "So, you thought our luck was gonna start now all of a sudden? Spell's got to be cast over an open fire."

"The fireplace in the library," Sam noted.

I looked around the bunker, not feeling too good about this plan. "That's just not as appealing as a, uh, ghost-proof panic room, you know?"

**EPOV**

_Haven't heard from you since my text..._

_Just stay safe, okay?_

_Love you xox_

_\- T_

I looked down at my phone for the millionth time, wondering if and how I should respond to the message I'd looked at a million times by now. I felt so guilty for not sending a message back. But at the same time, I couldn't lie and wouldn't tell the truth. So radio silence was the best option for now.

"Hey." Dean came over to me, offer a gun. He frowned as I quickly slipped my phone into my pocket. "You get a message or something? Everything okay?" he asked, nodding to my phone.

"As good as it can be when the ghosts of people we couldn't save are trying to kill us." I shrugged, taking the gun. "And yeah, I got a message from a friend. Letting me know they were safe."

Before he could say anything else, I started for the door, ready to get out of here. The bunker might have been the safest place, but it was small and confined. I'd never really been one for small spaces, but that's what happens when you've got a slight fear of them.

"Cover each other," Bobby told us as he got ready to leave. "And aim careful. Don't run out of ammo until I'm done, or they'll shred you." He came to stand by me at the door, looking to the three of us. "Ready?"

I gave a short nod. "Ready."

Opening the door, Bobby looked around before he stepped out. We all had our guns ready, the four of us heading for the stairs. I knew the brothers were right behind me, always were in times like this.

As we turned to start up the stairs, we all came to a stop. Sitting there, on top of the steps, was a guy- a dead guy. He would have been in his early twenties with curly hair. I remembered him for a shapeshifter case we did. It was Ronald.

He lifted his head and smiled at us. "Hey, Dean. You remember me?"

Dean, who stepped in front of the rest of us, looked up at him. "Ronald, huh? With the laser eyes? I wish I could say it's good to see you."

"I am dead because of you," Ronald started, getting to his feet. "You were supposed to help me!"

Suddenly Bobby raised his gun and shot at him. Once Ronald was gone Dean turned to Bobby, who simply shrugged. "If you're gonna shoot, shoot. Don't talk."

With the path cleared, we continued. One by one we headed up to the first floor, keeping an eye out for any movement. The moment we were in the study, the four of us got to work.

Sam and I started on making a salt circle surrounding the desk, while Dean moved to the fireplace and Bobby collected everything he needed that was in the room.

Turning to Sam, Bobby stopped him for a moment. "Upstairs, linen closet. Red hex box. It'll be heavy."

"Got it." With a short nod, the youngest Winchester rushed out of the room.

I finished the rest of the salt circle on my own. The moment it was done I looked up to see two girls standing in front of me. I recognised them... not just from the yard earlier when Sam and I found Bobby and stopped the girls from killing him. Years ago, one of the first Bobby and I had been on, the thing we'd been hunting... it got to the girls before we could get to it. We'd lost them.

I froze with guilt, unable to look away from them.

"Elizabeth," one spoke.

"You walked right by us while that monster ate us all up," the other added.

The first one spoke again, "You could have saved us."

A gun shot went off, the bullet hitting the girls and sending them away.

Looking over my eyes locked onto Dean's. He watched me a moment longer to make sure I was okay. With a short nod to reassure and thank him, he then got back to work.

Bobby stepped up to me, needing something else that wasn't in the study or the safety of the salt circle. "Kitchen. Cutlery drawer. It's got a false bottom. Hemlock, opium, wormwood."

"On it." I nodded, hurrying to the kitchen to get the things he needed.

**SPOV**

I opened the closet door, finding the red box Bobby asked for in an instant. As I reached for it I stopped at the sound of Meg's voice.

"You know what really pisses me off, Sam?"

I turned and aimed to shoot her, but she disappeared before I had a chance.

"You saw how I suffered for months." She appeared behind me. "I thought you must have learned something." I turned to aim at her, but froze at the broken look in her eyes. "I thought I died for something."

"Meg-"

"But what you're doing with that demon, Ruby... how many innocent bodies has Ruby burned through for kicks? How many girls just like me? And you don't send her back to Hell? You're a monster!"

Maybe she was right, maybe she was wrong. I didn't know if what I was doing was the right thing to do. Hunting and killing demons alongside Ruby- a demon. It sure as hell didn't seem right. But if that's what I had to do to make a difference, then that's what I was going to keep doing.

Raising my gun again, I shot Meg.

**EPOV**

I knew where all the hiding places were in the house. I knew where Bobby kept things. So finding the false bottom in one of the drawers was easy. In a matter of minutes, I had everything Bobby asked for.

Turning, I was maybe two or three steps away from the study when the doors slammed shut.

"Liz?!"

"Lizzie?!"

Both Dean and Bobby were clearly worried about me. I could hear it in their voices. But as I went to open the doors and they wouldn't budge, I knew there was nothing they could do for me, so there was no need to worry them further.

"I'm all right! Just keep working!" I told them, even though my gut was telling me I was definitely not all right.

"Hey, Lizzie."

I spun around to see Ronald standing in the middle of the room.

"Ronald." Giving a weak smile, I reached over to place the ingredients on the table. "Hey, come on. You don't wanna do this. I thought we were friends."

"That's when I was breathing." He slowly started towards me. "Now I'm gonna eat you alive."

Raising my hand, I flung Ronald across the room. "Look, Ron, I don't want to hurt you. You're a good guy, really. But if you give me no other choice..." I shrugged at him as he turned to me again.

He suddenly disappeared, but I knew better than to think he was gone. No way was he giving up that easily.

_Where are you?_

Scanning the room, I tried to stay prepared for whenever and wherever he was going to pop up. Unfortunately, I don't have eyes at the back of my head and therefore didn't see him appear behind me… but I felt it.

His hand pushed through my back and into my chest, grabbing and squeezing my heart.

Everything in me tensed as it went into panic mode. It was as if I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't move. My body didn't know what to do as his grip on my heart tightened. He was killing me and I could do nothing.

"Why do you deserve to live and not me?!" he yelled, squeezing more and more. "Why?! It's not fair!"

"Liz!" Dean was on the other side of the door, knocking on it, trying to get through. "Elizabeth!"

Movement at the other doorway caught my attention as Sam walked in, raised his gun and shot at Ronald.

The moment Ronald was gone I took a deep breath and fell to the ground, my body still in shock and unable to do much.

"Hey." Sam hurried to help me up. "You alright?"

I shook my head, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as I now stood again. "No."

"Let's go." His arm wrapped around my waist as he moved for the doors to the study.

Lifting a hand, I opened them with my mind, seeing as Dean still couldn't get them open himself. The moment the doors opened, Dean was there, making sure I was okay as he looked me over with a worried expression.

"You okay?" he asked, looking me over.

"I'll be fine," I insisted, nodding to the table. "Sam, give that stuff to Bobby."

When Sam hesitated, still clearly concerned for me, Dean looked to his brother. "I got her. You help Bobby."

Once Sam's hold on me was replaced by Dean's arm, the two of us moved over to the couch in the study while Sam hurried to hand Bobby everything he needed. Feeling a little better, I helped Dean reload the guns, knowing the ghosts would be back, and soon.

As soon as all the ingredients were together, Bobby lifted the book and began to recite some Latin words, reading the spell.

The windows blew open as a wind filled the room, blowing everything around. I looked down at the ground, watching as the salt began to move until it was no longer in the form of a circle and we were no longer protected.

All the ghosts appeared, one by one. We all shot at them as Bobby kept reading. Sam, Dean and I knew that at this point, no matter what, we had to make sure Bobby finished the spell or none of us would make it through the night.

**DPOV**

We were out of bullets. I'd managed to grab an iron rod to use, but before Sam or Liz could find weapons, the ghosts attacked.

Ronald pushed a desk towards Sam which then pushed him against the wall, holding him there. The two girls went for Liz, pushing her against the other wall so her chest was pressed against it- that way she couldn't see them, and couldn't use her powers to send them flying.

"Liz! Sam!"

"Cover Bobby!" Sam called as he tried to break himself free.

Before anyone could say or do anything else, Bobby stopped reading and started to groan in pain.

I turned to see Meg standing behind him, her hand reaching into his back, grasping at his heart in his chest. She was killing him.

He lost grip on the bowl filled with the spell ingredients. "Dean!"

Diving for it, I managed to catch the bowl before any of its contents could spill.

"Fireplace!"

With an order from Bobby, I tossed the ingredients into the fireplace and watched as it all burned a bright blue before the light grew so much I had to look away. The whole room glowed as the fire's energy burned the ghosts away, setting them free from the curse that lifted them.

Once the ghosts were gone, Bobby was free from Meg's grasp and fell to the ground.

"Bobby?" I crawled over to make sure he was okay.

Liz hurried over as well, dropping to her knees by his side. "Bobby, you okay?"

He didn't say anything, but gave a tired nod. He was okay. We all were.

...

I'd been asleep, on the floor in a makeshift bed I'd put together with some blankets and pillows Liz had given me. Sam was on the couch while Liz and Bobby were in their rooms upstairs. We'd all pretty much crashed after everything.

What woke me was a feeling, of being watched.

Opening my eyes, I turned my head to look over into the kitchen. Sure enough, standing there, leaning against the counter, was Castiel.

I looked over to make sure Sam was still asleep before I got up and headed over to the angel.

"Excellent job with the witnesses."

I frowned, coming to stop a few steps away from him. "You were hip to all this?"

"I was, uh… made aware."

His response and the fact he knew about it all, pissed me off. "Well, thanks a lot for the angelic assistance. You know, my friends almost got their hearts ripped out of their chests."

"But they didn't," he responded as if it were that simple.

"I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos. You know, Michael Landon. Not dicks."

I swear he looked smug as he looked at me and spoke again. "Read the Bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."

_That's bullshit_. "Yeah? Then, why didn't you fight?"

"I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns."

"Concerns? There were people getting torn to shreds down here!" I exclaimed, keeping my voice low so I wouldn't wake anyone. "And, by the way, while all this is going on, where the hell is your boss, huh, if there is a God?"

"There's a God."

"I'm not convinced. 'Cause if there's a God, what the hell is he waiting for, huh? Genocide? Monsters roaming the earth? The freaking apocalypse? At what point does he lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?"

"The Lord works-"

I cut him off, "If you say, 'in mysterious ways,' so help me, I will kick your ass." He looked away and shrugged in defeat. It was then I realised what he'd meant before. About the concerns. "So, Bobby was right... about the witnesses. This is some kind of a... sign of the apocalypse."

"That's why we're here. Big things afoot."

"Do I want to know what kind of things?"

"I sincerely doubt it, but you need to know. The rising of the witnesses is one of the 66 seals."

"Okay. I'm guessing that's not a show at Seaworld."

"Those seals are being broken by Lilith."

At least that part I understood. "She did the spell. She rose the witnesses."

He nodded. "Mm-hmm. And not just here. Twenty other hunters are dead."

"Of course. She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they would barrel right after us."

"Lilith has a certain sense of humour."

"Well, we put those spirits back to rest."

"It doesn't matter. The seal was broken."

"Why break the seal anyway?"

"You think of the seals as locks on a door."

"Okay. Last one opens and...?"

He pushed off the counter and turned to face me completely. "Lucifer walks free."

"Lucifer?" I shook my head. "I thought Lucifer was just a story they told at demon Sunday school. There's no such thing."

"Three days ago, you thought there was no such thing as me," he noted. "Why do you think we're here walking among you now for the first time in two thousand years?"

"To stop Lucifer."

"That's why we've arrived."

Lucifer. The Devil. Satan himself. Nothing good was going to come out of this. If he got out, it would more than likely end everything and everyone. Not just the people I cared about. _Everything_ would be gone. It had to be the scariest things I could think of, Lucifer rising and returning to Earth.

"Well..." I tried to cover up my fear and shock by replacing it with disappointment as I looked to Castiel again. "Bang-up job so far. Stellar work with the witnesses. That's nice."

"We tried. And there are other battles, other seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This one we lost." He stepped closer to me, getting into my personal space- I suddenly didn't feel too tough. "Our numbers are not unlimited. Six of my brothers died in the field this week. You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around? There's a bigger picture here." He leaned in a little closer. "You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in." with that, he vanished, leaving me to think about everything he'd just said.

_I was just threatened... by an angel._ _Could this night get any worse?_

**EPOV**

Popping a pill into my mouth, I took a quick drink of water- finishing what was left in the glass on the table by my bed- before I grabbed my bag and hurried out of my room. After rushing to and down the stairs and walking into the kitchen, I moved over to the pantry and pulled out a granola bar out of it.

"So... you got no problem believing in... God and Angels?" I heard Dean ask Sam as the two of them sat in the study.

"No, not really," Sam answered.

"So, I guess that means that you believe in the Devil."

"Why are you asking me all this?"

When there was a long pause, and Dean didn't respond, I walked into the room, my duffle bag over my shoulder. "When Bobby wakes up tell him I'll call him later." Turning, I started for the front door.

"Where are you going?" Dean called, stopping me before I could leave.

"Uh..." Thinking of a quick lie, I looked over at the brothers with a shrug. "That friend that sent me a message yesterday, I'm just gonna go check up on them. Make sure everything's okay."

The look on Sam's face told me in an instant that he knew I was lying, and that he knew the truth. Still, instead of ratting me out, he covered for me. "Okay, just call us when you get there. Let us know if you get into any trouble."

"Will do." I smiled, hurrying out of the house before Dean could stop me again.

I knew I couldn't keep this up for much longer, keeping all these secrets from him. But during the four months he'd spent in Hell things had changed, and I just didn't know how to tell him...

**Bamby**


	5. 1973

**EPOV**

The sound of someone moving around the hotel room had me roll on the couch so I could face whoever it was. But I hadn't needed to turn to know who was moving about. I'd known it was Sam.

"You're going, aren't you?"

He froze at the sound of my soft voice, looking at me as if he were a deer caught in headlights. "Uh... yeah..."

Sighing, I threw my blanket off and sat, looking up at him. "And what do you want me to tell him if he wakes up?" I asked, nodding to Dean.

Glancing briefly at his brother, Sam shrugged. "You'll think of something." Tugging his jacket on, her started for the door.

I found myself focusing on a stain on the ground as I spoke again. "When are you going to tell him? About Ruby? The demons? Everything?"

He paused at the door, his hand on the handle. "When are you going to tell him about your boyfriend?"

Tensing, I fell silent as I watched him walk out without another word. What we'd said was too heavy to really respond to. There was no right answer we could provide. Both of us knew that our secrets weren't good. They weren't all bad but they definitely weren't good.

Sam knew Dean would disapprove of his extracurricular activities. He knew his brother wouldn't like that Ruby had been by his side, helping with said activities for months now.

At the same time, I knew telling Dean about my boyfriend… well it was complicated.

I'd always said I wasn't the type to settle down, commit, find someone and decided to stay with them. I'd been the kind of girl to go from person to person, and I enjoyed the ride. Having no strings attached seemed like the only way for me. Until him. Tristan.

At the thought of him, I was reminded of the ache inside me. For the last few days it had been getting worse and worse, almost making me sick. Part of me was wondering if it was because of all this distance from him.

Groaning, I reached over to my bag and grabbed the small bottle of pills that sat in the front pocket. Getting to my feet, I moved over to the bathroom to get a drink and wash my face, hoping the pills might help me get some sleep.

**DPOV**

_Screams, everywhere. I could hear them all. Feel it all. It was like I'd never left. Like I was cursed to repeat it over and over for the rest of my life. Torture from the torture I'd already gone through._

_Hell._

_When Meg- while in Sam's body- had described Hell, I hadn't really understood what she meant. But now I did._

_There was nothing on Earth that I could compare Hell to. Nothing so painful or terrifying. There was no way I could adequately describe what it was like there._

_Pain, blood, screams, all the horrors you could imagine and so much more. All of it plagued my mind as I tried desperately to get some kind of sleep_.

…

I woke up with a start, covered in a thin layer of sweat, my breath come out ragged and faster than usual.

"Hello, Dean."

At the sound of someone's voice, I sat up and turned quickly, finding Castiel sitting on my bed.

"What were you dreaming about?" he asked, turning to look at me, a knowing look in his eyes.

Instead of answering I shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, shoving my jacket- that I'd been using as a blanket- off. "What, do you get your freak on by watching other people sleep? What do you want?"

"Listen to me. You have to stop it."

"Stop what?"

But just like how I'd dodged his question, he didn't answer. Instead he raised his hand and pressed two fingers to my forehead. I'm exactly sure what he did to me, but suddenly I was out like a light.

**EPOV**

Drying my hair with the crappy hotel towel, I walked out of the bathroom only to come to a stop.

Sitting there, on Dean's bed, was Castiel. But that wasn't all that was different. Now Dean was gone. Which meant I was alone, with an angel...

"Where's Dean?"

He rose from the bed and walked around to stand in the middle of the room, now facing me completely.

If he wasn't so powerful and intimidating, and I wasn't taken, I probably would have tried flirting with him. They guy was hot. I mean, _hot_. Tall, dark and mysterious. The slight shadow of hair growing on his face- too short to be shaved yet- and the way his clothes sat haphazardly, it all just added to his attractiveness.

"Dean's gone."

His answer pushed my nerves down as an annoyance grew. I knew Dean was gone, I wanted to where he went. "Where is he?"

"It's none of your concern."

Taking a step closer to the angel, I glared at him, ignoring the fact my mind was telling me to back off. "Look, I don't care who you are, and I certainly don't care about whatever plans you have for this war you should be fighting yourself." Dean had told us what Castiel had told him about Lucifer and Lilith. "Dean _is_ my concern. He's my friend. He's family. So, you will tell me where he is."

He seemed so unfazed as he looked down at where I now stood barely a step away from him. "Or what?"

"Or I'll do whatever it takes to makes sure Dean doesn't do what you want him to do. I'll convince him to hate you and your kind, to distrust you all, to never believe a single word that passes through your lips." When he opened his mouth to respond, I went on, "And before you say I can't... there isn't much I can't do once I set my mind to it. So, tell me where he is. Now."

**DPOV**

"Move it buddy. You can't sleep here."

My eyes shot up as I woke and sat up. I was outside, the sun bright and shinning down on me to a point where I could hardly see as my eyes adjusted.

Standing by me was a cop, looking less than impressed with me.

"Okay..." I had no idea what the hell he was going on about. "Sleep where?"

"Anywhere but here." He gestured to where I was lying before walking off.

I sat up and frowned at the bus stop bench I'd been asleep on. Whatever Castiel did to me, he sent me somewhere that clearly wasn't my hotel room. Which meant he left Liz and Sam there without me and they had no idea where I was.

Pulling out my phone, I went to call them but found I had no signal. "Perfect." With a groan I got up and walked across the road, heading over to a place called _Jay Bird's_ _Diner_.

Walking in, I looked around the joint. There was some kind of old music playing in the background as people sat around eating food and drinking coffee. It was like any other diner.

Moving to the counter, I took a seat next to a guy, looking over at him. "Hey, where the hell am I?"

He turned to me, answering. "Jay Bird's Diner."

 _I knew that._ "Yeah, thanks. I mean, uh... city and state."

The corner of his lip rose a little before he filled in the blanks. "Lawrence, Kansas."

Sighing, I faced the counter again. "Lawrence." _Great..._

"Hey, you okay buddy?"

"Yeah, tough night."

Nodding, he gestured to the waiter behind the counter. "Hey, uh, coffee here, Reg."

Pulling out my phone, I showed it to him, hoping he could help me with the signal problem as well. "Can you tell me where I can get reception on this thing?"

"The USS Enterprise?" he gave a short chuckle, turning back to the newspaper in front of him.

The waiter came over then, placing the coffee in front of me. He was dressed like he'd just stepped out of a cliched '70s hippie movie. With the moustache, shaggy hair and flared pants, the whole outfit screamed flower power.

"Thanks... nice threads. You know Sonny and Cher broke up, right?" I grinned into my cup, taking a sip.

"Sonny and Cher broke up?" the guy next to me asked, sounding genuinely shocked. Even the waiter looked surprised.

_Wait... what?_

Turning around, I gave the place a better look, and only just realised what I'd miss before. The bad hair-dos, clothes, music. Even the furniture and style of the place seemed off, out dated. It was like...

Looking to the guy next to me again, I glanced at his newspaper, reading the date. _Monday, April 30, 1973_.

 _Son of a bitch._ Castiel sent me back in time.

"Hey, Winchester."

I turned to see an older man walking into the diner, headed straight for the counter, moving to the guy next to me.

"Son of a bitch." The old guy shook his hand. "How you doing, Corporal?"

The guy next to me smiled. "Hey, Mr D."

"I heard you were back."

"Yeah, a little while now."

"Good to have you home, John, damn good."

 _John_. "Dad?" I muttered to myself, still watching the exchange.

"Well, say hello to your old man for me." The older man gave John a pat on the shoulder as he started to head over to another table.

"You got it, Mr D," John called before he shifted to face his paper again, only to notice me staring at him. "Do we know each other?"

With wide eyes, I took a moment to respond as I tried to not freak out. "I guess not," I managed to say as I reached for my coffee again.

After a beat, John grabbed his jacket and started to get up. "Take it easy, pal," he told me before moving for the door.

"Yeah." I nodded, watching him.

The moment he was out the door I was up and following him. There was no way in hell I was letting him go that easy. I mean, it's my dad after all.

...

I was following my dad- the younger, 70s version of him. Keeping a distance that meant I could duck away and not be seen if he turned, but close enough so I could keep track of him. That's what I wanted, to keep track of him. To make sure he was okay. Safe.

As I walked around the corner, I'd been expecting to see dad walking, but instead I found myself almost bumping into Castiel and Liz.

"Whoa." Liz lifted her hand to her head as she tried to stay standing.

I stepped forward to grab her arm and help keep her steady. "You okay?"

She nodded gently, moving closer to me as she closed her eyes to shield them from the light. "Just need a minute."

Shaking my head, I turned to glare at the angel. "What is this?" I asked, gesturing to our surroundings.

His voice was as flat as it usually was when he answered. "What does it look like?"

"Is it real?"

"Very."

"Okay, so what? Angels got their hands on some DeLoreans? How did I get here?"

"Time is fluid, Dean." He turned away from me, looking around us. "It's not easy, but we can bend it on occasion."

"Well bend it back or tell me what the hell we're doing here!"

He nodded to Liz. " _She's_ here because she's demanding and annoying." Liz flipped him off in response, while he just went on, "I already told you why you're here. You have to stop it."

"Stop what? Huh? What, is there something nasty after my dad?"

A car horn went off, catching my attention. I turned to see what was going on and then turned back to Castiel, only he was gone.

"Oh, come on! What, are you allergic to straight answers, you son of a bitch?!"

"He's a dick." Liz sighed, stepping away from me a little, still rubbing her temples. "But he sent you here for a reason, so let's just get to work. Okay?"

"Okay." I nodded, following as she started to walk down the path in the direction I'd been going before. "You sure you're all right though?"

"I'm fine Dean."

**EPOV**

Walking next to Dean, I followed him into a car dealership. In a moment or two I spotted her. The Impala. She was as gorgeous now as she was in the future.

Smiling widely, I stepped up to her and crouched down, running a hand over her hood. "Hey, Baby."

Dean chuckled as he stood next to me. "I swear you love her almost as much as I do."

"Can you blame me?" I asked, grinning up at him.

"A fine young man like yourself, just starting out? How about I take off another two hundred and fifty?" a man asked from a car close to baby. It was a 1967 Volkswagen Samba Bus, cream and white. Nice, but no Impala.

The young man he offered the deal to thought about it for a moment before nodding with a smile on his face. "Let's do it."

I stood, looking the guy up and down, seeing the resemblance almost instantly. "That's your dad," I noted in a hushed voice as I leaned a little closer to Dean.

"Yeah. That's my dad." He nodded, shifting so he was leaning on Baby's hood. Once the car salesman walked off towards the office, Dean spoke up, getting his dad's attention, "That's not the one you want."

Startled, John turned to us before frowning accusingly at Dean. "You following me?"

"No, no, I was just passing by," Dean lied as he pushed off Baby's hood. "I never got to thank you for that cup of coffee this morning. I was a little out of it."

"More than a little." John grinned.

Dean gestured to me. "Found my friend, so things are looking better." Turning back to his dad, he went on. "Let me repay the favour." He gave Baby's hood a pat. "This is the one you want."

"Oh yeah, you- you know something about cars?"

"Yeah... yeah, my dad taught me everything I know." Dean nodded with a nostalgic look in his eyes. "And this. This is a great car." Pushing off the hood, I turned and opened her up as Dean and John came to take a look inside. "Three-twenty-seven four-barrel," Dean started.

"Two hundred and seventy-five horses," I added.

"A little TLC and this thing is cherry," Dean finished.

"You know man, you're right." John nodded. Just looking at him, you could see the admiration he had for the car. I could tell why he'd bought it all those years ago- or, now, I guess.

Dean gestured to her van behind us. "Then what are you buying that thing for?"

Pulling away from Baby's hood, John shrugged. "I kinda promised someone I would."

"Over a '67 Chevy?" Dean chuckled. "I mean, come on, this is the car of a lifetime. Trust me, this thing's still gonna be badass when it's forty."

After considering it for a moment, John pulled back and offered his hand to Dean. "John Winchester. Thanks."

Dean shook his hand. "Dean Van Halen, and thank you." He gestured to me. "And this is-"

"Elizabeth Rose Hart." I smiled, offering my hand to John. "I just want to thank you as well. For helping Dean out this morning."

"It's no problem," John assured me.

"I was in pretty rough shape this morning, huh?" Dean chuckled.

Grinning, amused, John moved to Baby's open windows, taking a look inside. "No kidding."

"I've been hung over before but, hey, I was, I was getting chills in that diner. You didn't feel any of those cold spots, did you?" Dean asked, trying to keep it casual.

John shook his head. "Nope."

Dean kept trying. "I swore I smelled something weird too, you know? Like... like rotten eggs. You didn't happen to smell any sulfur by chance?" Either he was trying to figure out if John was a hunter, or if something was after him.

"No," John answered, still checking Baby out.

"There been any cattle mutilations in town recently?"

Before John could respond or freak out, I quickly spoke cut in, "Sorry about him. It's his hangover, I swear. Alcohol does weird things to him."

John calmed slowly, looking from me to Dean. "Yeah, okay."

"I'm gonna go get some food into him. But, uh, take care of yourself okay, John?" Offering him a smile I started backing up, grabbing Dean's hand to drag him along.

"Yeah, sure," John called to us as we left.

Once we were out of the dealership, Dean turned to glare at me. "What the hell? We can't just leave him."

"We're not. We're gonna follow him. _Without_ being seen." Walking up to a car parked on the side of the street, I nodded at the car door, opening it with my mind. "Now get in."

**DPOV**

Liz parked a couple house down from where dad stopped. The two of us watched as he got out of Baby- which he just bought- and leaned against her, waiting. Not too long after a woman around Liz's age came out of a sweet, blue house, rushing over to John with a wide smile on her face.

I frowned, taking in the exchange between dad and the woman. It didn't take long for me to realise who she was.

"Mum?"

Liz shifted in her seat, leaning forward to try and get a better look. " _That's_ your mum?"

"Yeah..."

...

We'd followed mum and dad to the diner again. It was dark now. The two of them were seated at a booth inside, drinking milkshakes, on a date. Liz and I were outside, watching through a window, hiding in the shadows.

"Sammy, wherever you are, mum is a babe," I muttered to myself. Liz chuckled beside me. "I'm going to hell... again."

"You're not wrong. She's gorgeous," Liz noted as she continued to watch my parents. "Both of them. I can see why the Winchester are so irresistible."

I turned to her then, grinning down at her. "You think I'm irresistible?"

Slowly she looked up at me. She didn't say anything, but the look in her eyes told me enough. I could practically see what she was thinking as her eyes searched mine, and surprisingly, I didn't see the desire I was used to seeing.

If I was being honest, there was desire there. But it was as if there was something else pushing it away, smothering it, telling her not to feel that way. There was a conflict in her eyes, and it worried me.

**EPOV**

"Why are you following us?"

Dean and I only had a moment to turn to Mary- who was now behind us- before she attacked.

Going for Dean first, she kneed him in the stomach and then grabbed me, pushing me to the wall before lifting her fist to punch me. But before she could, Dean shoved her away from me. Her attention was back on him now as he tried to dodge all her punches and kicks.

"Are you crazy?" he panted, dodging yet another one of her punches.

"You've been trailing us since my house."

He managed to grab her arm before she could hit him. "I don't know what you're talking-"

Cutting him off. kicking him in the stomach again. "Really?"

As Dean stumbled back, leaning forward, I could see she was about to get him again. I stepped forward now, grabbing her arm and pushing her against the wall before she could hurt Dean anymore.

"Be careful," Dean warned me.

"I am," I assured him. Mary struggled against my hold, drawing my attention to her again. "Look, you can either keep fighting or-" My eyes landed on her charm bracelet. Her silver bracelet with protective charms hanging from it. Pulling back, I waited for her to turn and face me before I asked, "Are you... are you a hunter?"

...

Dean and I stepped out of the shadows by Mary's house once we heard John drive off.

"Dean and Elizabeth, right?" Mary asked as she watched as move toward her. "I'm not sure you should come in."

"You can trust us," Dean assured her. "I mean, come on, we're all hunters, right? I mean, we're- we're practically family."

I could only imagine what this must feel like for him. I knew it would be amazing, to see his parents like this, alive, young, happy and healthy. But at the same time, it must be torture, having to hide who he is. Tip-toeing around every conversation and move he makes, not wanting to mess anything up. It had to be hard.

Mary shook her head. "Yeah, thing is, my dad, he's a little, um..."

"Oh, I gotta meet him." Dean was excited, but I understood why.

Mary frowned, confused. "You've heard of him?"

Dean hesitated a moment before giving a short shrug. "Clearly not enough."

Sighing, she shook her head again as she started for the house. Dean and I were a step behind.

I leaned in closer to him, talking so she wouldn't hear us. "Are you sure this is the best idea? Couldn't this mess up our whole future? Shouldn't we just be observing or something?" I'd seen enough sci-fi movies to know traveling to the past was never a good thing.

"Castiel sent me here to stop something. Can't do that from the shadows," he noted, sounding so sure of himself.

**DPOV**

Mary had brought us into her home, and lead us to the living room where her father sat on a recliner, reading an old lore book. She'd introduced Liz and I to him, but he clearly wasn't interested.

"So, you're hunters? Well, tell me something, you kill vampires with wooden stakes or silver?" he asked.

"Neither," Liz answered.

"You cut their heads off," I finished, causing Mary to smile a little from where she stood on my other side. "So, did we pass your test?"

"Yep," he answered shortly, closing the book and setting it on the table next to him. "Now get out of my house."

"Dad!"

"I don't trust other hunters, don't want their help, don't want them around my family," he explained.

Honestly, I understood what he was saying. Most hunters we came across, I wouldn't trust them either.

Mary's mother was in the other room, setting the table. "Knock it off, Samuel," she called to her husband.

"They're hunters," Samuel argued.

His wife walked into the room, not caring for his excuses and reasons. "Who passed your little pop quiz, and now I am inviting them to dinner." She turned to Liz and me. "Are you hungry?"

I gave a short nod. "Starving."

Liz smiled at the older woman. "Could eat a horse."

"Good." She smiled back at the two of us. "I'm Deanna, you've met my husband Samuel, now wash up," she ordered before walking back into the dining room.

I looked from Deanna to Samuel and then to Mary. "Samuel and Deanna?" She gave a short nod. "Really?"

**EPOV**

I sat between Deanna and Dean, enjoying an actually home cooked meal. I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten something that wasn't from a packet or heated in the microwave. This was pure bliss.

As we all sat and ate the delicious meal, Deanna turned to Dean and me, breaking the silence. "First time in Lawrence?"

Dean shook his head. "Well, it's been a while. Things sure have changed... I think."

"I've been a few times, but mainly just driven through," I added.

"You working a job?" Samuel asked.

Looking away from his grandmother, Dean shrugged at Samuel's question. "Yeah, maybe."

"What's that mean?"

"It means I don't trust other hunters either, Samuel." Dean gave a light grin.

I bit my lip, trying not to laugh as I looked down at my food. In the corner of my eye I could see Mary doing the same, as Deanna gave her husband an amused glance, while Samuel's lips turned up in a slight grin as well.

"Hey, um, so why were you following me and John?" Mary asked, looking from Dean to me.

"Oh, uh, we thought something was following your boyfriend," I answered causally. "Kept track of him for a while, but we're pretty sure we were wrong."

"John Winchester mixing it up with spirits, can you imagine?" Deanna chuckled lightly, causing Samuel to sigh.

Mary rolled her eyes at her father. "I saw that."

"What?" He turned to us, playing dumb.

"That sour-lemon look."

"Now hold on, John's a really, really nice... naive civilian."

Mary scoffed. "So what? You'd rather me be with a guy like this?" She nodded to Dean.

Dean nearly chocked on his food. "What? No, no. No."

"Oh, no, I didn't-" Mary quickly looked to me. "He's a great guy, I'm sure. He's just not my type, and I'm sure you two are happy." She gave me a quick smile.

I hadn't even had a real moment to think about what she'd just said to me, but I was pretty sure she thought Dean and I were together. As in, boyfriend and girlfriend, in love, dating, an item, a couple, partners, lovers. She thought what Dean and I were, was what she and John were.

Before I could correct her, she turned to her father again, her smile gone. "Anyway, is that the kind of guy you want me dating?"

Samuel shook his head. "Mary, of course not, it's just that I-"

Deanna cut him off. "That's enough, both of you, we have company." She gestured to Dean and me.

Clearing his throat, Dean changed the subject. "So, what about you, Samuel, you, uh… working a job?"

"Might be." The older man shrugged.

"He's working a job on the Whitshire Farm," Mary told us, earning a disapproving look from her father.

Dean frowned, as if he couldn't remember something, but knew there was something to remember. "Whitshire, why does that name sound familiar to me?"

"Well, it's been all over the papers," Samuel explained. "Tom Whitshire. Got tangled up in a combine a few towns over."

"That kind of thing happens," Dean noted.

"So why was he on it in the first place when his crops are all dead?"

"Demonic omens?" Dean and I said at the same time- which Mary smiled at.

Samuel gave a short nod. "That's what I gotta find out."

"What about the rest of the town? Well, did you find anything on the web?" Dean quickly realised his mistake and corrected himself, "Of information that you have assembled."

"Electrical storms maybe," Deanna answered. "The weather service graphs should be here on Friday."

"By mail?"

I turned to smile tightly at Dean. "How else would they get it, Dean?" I asked, trying to remind him of where- and when- we were.

"Right..." He nodded, once again seeing his mistake. Looking over at Samuel, he shifted in his seat slightly before speaking, "You know, it sounds to me like we might be hunting the same thing. You know if we go in there in numbers, we could take care of this real quick."

But Samuel still wasn't on board with the two of us hanging around. "What part of 'we work alone' do you not understand, son?"

**DPOV**

Liz and I had slept in the car we'd stolen before making our way over to the Whitshire farm in the morning. She'd managed to steal us some clothes while I got us some breakfast. She'd grabbed a priest out fit for me, and a modest church-goer's outfit for herself.

Unfortunately, while questioning Mrs. Whitshire about her husband's death and the days before it, she offered no real help. There was nothing she told us that could help us figure out what we were dealing with.

The three of us were headed for her front door, Liz and I ready to leave. As I opened the door, about to say good bye, the three of us paused, surprised to see someone standing on the porch. But it wasn't just someone. It was Samuel.

He was dressed as a priest as well, and surprised to see Liz and I. "Father," he gave me a tight smile, "I see you beat me here."

"The Lord is funny that way." My smile was lighter than his. As I stepped out of the house, I gestured to Mrs Whitshire. "Beth Whitshire, this is my associate, our senior, _senior_ priest, Father Chaney."

"Please accept our deepest condolences on behalf of the county diocese." Samuel offered her what looked like fruit cake.

Mrs Whitshire accepted the gift. "Thank you."

"Mrs. Whitshire was just telling the father and I all about Tom." Liz smiled at Samuel, playing on her sweet side she often used during cases. "She told us all about how normal and ordinary things were the day before his death."

Samuel nodded. "I see, so you didn't notice anything unusual, ma'am?"

"You mean like my husband's guts fertilizing the back forty?" Mrs Whitshire asked, a little too harshly. But I didn't mind. It actually amused me, seeing the shocked look on Samuel's face.

While he was still stunned into silence, I gave Ms Whitshire a short nod and smile. "Excuse us."

Before Samuel could react, Liz and I walked off, heading over to where Mary stood with the Whitshire son. They stood by a tree, the boy leaning against it as he spoke to Mary.

As we approached them, Mary turned to Liz and I for a moment before focussing on the boy again. "Charlie, would you like to tell the Father here what you just told me?"

Charlie turned his attention to me, looking a little scared as he spoke. "Dad drank sometimes. Sometimes he got rough with mum."

"And that's when the stranger came?" Mary pressed- though she did so gently.

He nodded. "I just thought he was some Bible thumper, like you all. He showed up about a week ago."

"And what did he say?" Liz asked.

"Did I want the beatings to stop? I just thought he was crazy, I didn't think-" He cut himself off for a moment before going on. "And the next thing I know, dad's dead. Am I going to jail?"

"You didn't do this, Charlie," Mary assured him.

"Did the stranger want something in return?" I asked.

He shook his head. "He didn't want anything."

"Come on, Chuck, he wasn't just handing out freebies now, was he?"

"He did say something about comin' a callin' ten years from now. Maybe he'd want something then."

That did not sound good. "Something like what?"

"I don't know, okay? Look, I told you he was nuts."

Gently, Mary grabbed my arm and lead us a few steps away. Liz followed, coming to stand with us as our backs faced Charlie.

"What do you think?" Mary asked the both of us.

"I think he just pimped his soul to a demon and doesn't even know it."

Liz nodded. "Dean's right. I don't see any other option here."

Looking from Liz and me, Mary nodded as she turned and moved back to Charlie. "Charlie, do you remember what this stranger looked like?"

He nodded, answering as Liz and I moved over to stand with them again. "Yeah, he was about 5'10, white, normal looking really."

"Anything else?" Mary questioned.

"There was one thing."

When he didn't go on, I urged him to tell us. "What?"

"It's just, the light hit his eyes in a weird way and... for a moment I coulda sworn-"

I cut him off, "What? That they were black? Or red maybe?"

He shook his head. "No, they were yellow. Pale yellow."

**Bamby**


	6. Back to the Future

**EPOV**

I was freaking out. I was majorly freaking out. Yellow eyes. A demon. Yellow-eyed demon. Going back in time meant he'd be alive, but I never would have thought Castiel would bring Dean and I back to where this thing was.

But it made sense. Now that I thought about it, we were in Kansas, ten years before Mary died. Ten years before the demon fed Sam his demon blood.

 _I could really use a pill right now_. I thought to myself. But the pills were back in the future. _Son of a-_

Dean slammed a map down onto the Campbell dining table. He was determined to find this thing and kill it. For his family. For all the victims. For himself. If he killed it now, instead of when he actually did kill it, then he would be saving so many lives, and changing his own.

"What do you say we just slow down and talk this thing through," Samuel suggested as he looked over Dean, a little concerned.

Dean was short as he responded. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Except you're saying it's a demon, and none of us has ever heard of a demon with yellow eyes."

"Dean and I have." My hands were literally shaking as I looked over at the older man on the other side of the table. "This thing..." I couldn't even say it.

This thing is the reason why my dad died. Four years later, on the anniversary of his death, my mum was so distraught that she crashed our car, which put me in a coma. She made a deal to save me and ten years later she was killed. Not even a year after that my sister rebelled because of her grief, and ended up making a mistake that cost her life.

He also kidnapped Sam and I, put us in an abandoned town and forced a bunch of us to fight to the death. Which ended in Sam and I dying. Which is why Dean sold his soul and went to hell. Oh, and all the while, demons killed Ash and a bunch of other hunters because Ash found something out and Yellow-eyes didn't want him telling anyone.

Everything that happened to me, _all_ the death. It was because of Yellow-eyes.

"Hey." Dean walked over to me, seeing that I was on the brink of having a breakdown. "We're gonna find this thing, okay?" He cupped my cheek as he stepped closer to me. "We're gonna find him and stop him. I promise." His voice was tense and determined.

"Just calm down, son." Samuel stepped towards us.

Dean shook his head, turning to his grandfather. "You don't get it, do you? You are in danger, we are all in danger. In fact, you need to get yourself someplace safe."

"Not until we know what we're dealing with here."

Deanna came in then, carrying a bowl of fruit salad. "Sam's right, Dean, it could be a demon, it could be a shapeshifter, it could be any number of things."

"We know what this thing is!" Dean exclaimed. Deanna walked back into the kitchen as he went on. "And we're gonna kill it, that's all the talking I need to do."

"You're gonna kill a demon?" Samuel scoffed. "How?"

"There's a hunter named Daniel Elkins. He lives in Colorado, he has Colt's gun. _The_ Colt."

Samuel nodded, but didn't look as if he believed Dean. "Yeah, I heard about the Colt, used to tell it to Mary as a bedtime story."

"Well, it's real," Dean insisted, turning back to the map.

I noticed Samuel look to his wife for a moment before he sighed and turned to Dean. "Alright, say that it is. You got some kind of crystal ball telling you where this demon's gonna be?"

"Yeah, maybe I do." Dean reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out his father's journal. placing it on the table.

Stepping forward, Samuel took a look at it. "What's this?"

"It's a list," Dean answered as he flicked through the pages.

"Of what?"

"My dad wrote down anyone he thought ever came in contact with the Yellow Eyed Demon. Who, where and when."

"Why?"

"'Cause the more he could learn about the son of a bitch, the more he could figure out why it killed my mum." Dean kept flipping through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "Look, Whitshire Farm. I told you that name sounded familiar."

Samuel frowned, looking down at the name Dean was pointing to. "Whitshire Farm, that was two days ago. How the hell is that on your dad's list?"

Dean and I shared a look, as Dean answered cautiously- and with a lie. "Uh... my dad could see the future." He didn't wait for a response before he gestured to the next name on the list. "Look at this, it says he's gonna hit here tomorrow night."

Samuel leaned forward to read the name. "Liddy Walsh?"

"Haleyville. That's close," Dean noted.

Shrugging, Samuel pulled back again. "I mean, yeah, it's about three miles, but..."

The look on his face told me everything I needed to know. He thought we were crazy. It didn't matter what Dean said, nothing would change his mind. He looked over to his wife who had the same expression on her face.

Dean pulled away from the table, looking to the two of them. "I know you guys think we're crazy."

"You seem like really nice kids," Samuel nodded, "but yeah, you're crazy."

"Yeah, maybe, but I know where this bastard's gonna be, and I'm gonna stop it, once and for all." Grabbing the journal, Dean turned to me. "Come on." He nodded to the door, knowing I was right behind him as we left the room.

**DPOV**

Liz and I stopped by the front door of the Campbell's home. Sitting in the living room was Mary as she flicked through some records.

Looking from my mum to Liz, I hesitated a moment. "Hey, I'll, uh... I'll meet you at the car."

With a glance at my mum, Liz understood. Nodding, she left without a word, leaving the house. The sound of the door closing caught Mary's attention, causing her to turn and look over at me.

"Hey." She smiled, getting up.

"Hey. We're shoving off. I just wanted to say, bye."

"Really? So soon?" She genuinely looked disappointed.

"Yeah. Job to do." I shrugged, trying to keep it casual even though every fibre in my being was telling me not to leave her. "Hey, I wanted to- to tell you, you know for what it's worth. Um... it doesn't matter what your dad thinks, I like that John kid."

She chuckled lightly. "You do?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think you two are meant to be." I paused before muttering to myself, "Hell, I'm depending on it."

"What?" She frowned, having not heard the last part.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Um, can I ask you a question?" She gave a simple nod. "What's he like? John."

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." I shrugged.

"I don't know." She smiled, getting a dreamy look in her eyes. "He's sweet, kind. Even after the war, after everything, he still believes in happily ever after, you know? He's everything a hunter isn't." After a beat, she corrected herself. "No offense."

"No, none taken."

Taking a deep breath, she smiled again. "Can I tell you something?" she asked, and I nodded. "He's gonna ask me to marry him. Tomorrow, I think," she giggled lightly.

"Yeah?"

"Oh, Dad's gonna explode. But I don't care." She suddenly became a little more serious. "I'll run away if I have to, I just… I love John, and..."

"And what?"

"I wanna get out. This job, this life, I hate it." She shook her head. "I want a family, I wanna be safe. You know the worst thing I can think of? The very worst thing? Is for my children to be raised into this like I was. No, I won't let it happen."

I had to blink back tears after hearing her say all that. "Yeah..."

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, no, I'm- I'm fine." Looking at her, standing in front of me, young, beautiful and naive of the future, I felt obligated to at least try and warn her. "Hey, uh, Mary, can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"Even if this sounds really weird. Will you promise me that you will remember?"

She nodded, laughing lightly. "Okay."

"On November 2nd, 1983," my voice shook as I fought not to cry, "don't get out of bed. No matter what you hear, or what you see. Promise me you won't get out of bed."

Her smile was gone as she nodded again, more slowly this time. "Okay."

Wiping at my face to get rid of the tear that had escaped, I started for the door, needing to get out of there before I really broke down.

...

I was driving down the road, Liz in the seat next to me. We were silent, the two of us deep in thought. I could practically feel how nervous she was. Yellow-eyes had ruined both of our lives, but I had a feeling there was more to her story than I knew, and that was the reason why she was suddenly holding back.

Movement in the rearview mirror caught my eyes. I jumped, surprised to see Castiel sitting in the back seat.

"So what? God's my co-pilot, is that it?" I asked him. But he didn't say anything back, just gave me a blank look. "Well, you're a regular Chatty Cathy. Tell me something. Sam would have wanted in on this, why not bring him back?"

"You had to do this alone, Dean."

I scoffed. "And that's why Liz is here?"

"She was... persistent."

"And what?" I shook my head at him. "You don't care that Sam's tearing up the future looking for us right now?"

"Sam's not looking for you," he responded simply.

"Alright, if we do this, then the family curse breaks, right? Mum and dad live happily ever after, and- and, Sam and I grow up playing little league and chasing tail?"

"You realise, if you do alter the future, your father, you, Sam, even Elizabeth, you'll never become hunters. And all those people you saved, they'll die."

I glanced over at Liz, who was focused on the window next to her. "We realise."

We both understood what was on the table here. We both knew what wold happen if we did this, if we killed Yellow-eyes. Not only would it save our families, and countless other people, but it would change our lives completely. To the point that Sam and I would never have met Liz, or Bobby, or anyone else.

But if that meant my mum and dad got to live, then I was willing to let them all go. They'd be happy, and so would I.

"And you don't care?"

"Oh, I care," I assured him. "I care a lot." I need him to understand that. "But these are my parents. I'm not gonna let them die again. I can't. No, not if I can stop it." Looking over at him again, I found he was no longer in the backseat.

It was just Liz and I again, left in silence once more.

...

Liz was keeping watch as I broke into Daniel Elkins' safe. I knew the Colt was in here, because dad had told Sam and I where it was years ago. During the case, we found out vampires were real.

Opening the door, I was relieved to see the gun lying exactly where I'd thought it would be.

"Dean..."

The sound of a gun cocking, and Liz's voice had me look over my shoulder. Standing between us and our exit was Daniel and the shotgun he was aiming at us.

"Hold it right there, friend. Drop the gun, be on your way." There was a warning in his tone, and I had no doubt he'd shoot us.

Getting up slowly, I pretended to lay the Colt on the top of the safe. But instead- once I stood properly- I turned quickly, aiming it at him. "Can't do it, Daniel."

At the sound of me using his name, he tensed. "Who the hell are you?"

"We're hunters, just like yourself."

"Thieves more like it."

"We just need it for a few days," I assured him.

"Not happening."

Liz sighed. "Look, you don't know us, I get it. But we have the chance to saves lives. His family. My family. And so much more. But we need this gun to do it. I'm begging you. Please, just let us take it, for a few days."

He watched her carefully for a moment, and I guess it was the desperate look in her eyes and the way she pleaded, because he actually lowered his gun.

"Thank you." Liz gave him a quick and small smile before nodding to me.

The two of us started for the exit, but before leaving, I turned back to Daniel. "There's some hunters in Lawrence, the Campbells."

"Never heard of them."

I gestured to the Colt in my hands. "That's where she'll be." With that, I followed Liz and left.

**EPOV**

"Mary!"

At the sound of Samuel yelling worriedly and desperately, Dean and rushed towards the front door of the Walsh's home. I nodded to the door, throwing it open right before we reached it.

Dean was in first, gun drawn. I was right behind him, coming to a standstill where he'd stopped. Standing in the living room was a man, with yellow eyes, holding Mary in front of him like a shield.

"Let her go!" Dean ordered.

But Yellow-eyes' attention was on the Colt, not on Dean's words. "Where'd you get that gun?"

Suddenly Mary elbowed Yellow-eyes and pushed him hard enough so that she could break free. Dean was ready, cocking the Colt, prepared to shoot. But a second before he got a chance, Yellow-eyes threw his head back, opened his mouth and exited the body he was possessing.

The body fell in a heap on the ground as black smoke rushed out the air vent in the wall.

Dean sighed in frustration, lowering the Colt. "Damn..."

...

I stood outside with Mary, my arm around her shoulders as I tried to comfort her. She was clearly freaked out from the whole experience. I know I hadn't exactly been all smiles and laughs after meeting my first demon.

"Mary, what else did he say to you?" Dean asked as he paced the sidewalk in front of Liddy Walsh's' house.

"I told you, just that he liked me." She paused and tensed before slowly looking at me with fear in her eyes. "What did he mean by that?"

Before I could answer, Samuel walked out of the house and towards us. "Liddy's a strong kid, she'll be fine." He faced his daughter. "Are you okay?"

"No, Dad, I'm pretty far from okay. Can we go?" She snapped as she pulled away from me and stormed over to her father's car.

Instead of following, Samuel watched his daughter as he spoke to Dean. "Nice job in there."

"I missed the shot." Dean sounded so disappointed in himself, and I understood why.

"Take the compliment, son." Samuel turned to him. "I'm saying that I was wrong about you."

Dean didn't say anything as he looked to Samuel, then to me, then to Mary as she sat in the truck, before turning back to Samuel. "We need to talk."

**DPOV**

Samuel sat at the dining room table in his home, Liz on his right as I stood at the window, looking out. I was on high alert. Yellow-eyes wasn't going to give up that easily. He'd come back for mum, eventually.

"We have to kill this thing now, or Mary dies," I told Samuel.

"What?" He turned in his chair to face me. "How do you know that?"

I pulled out dad's journal as I answered. "I just do, okay?"

"When?" he snapped.

"I don't know, maybe today, probably years from now, but it's happening, trust me."

"So, what, are you some kind of a psychic now too?"

I paused my reading and looked over at him. "No. Alright, listen to me." I moved to take the seat on Liz's other side. "Now, this is gonna sound a little... actually it's gonna sound massively, massively crazy."

He nodded. "Okay."

"Mary is my mother."

"Excuse me?"

"And I am your grandson," I added. "And I know what the hell I'm talking about."

He looked at me, pulling back slightly as the disbelief in his eyes only grew. "You wanna run that by me again, son?"

Liz spoke up for the first time since coming back to the Campbell's. "My name is Elizabeth Rose Hart. I was born October 28th, 1983. This is Dean _Winchester_ , born January 24th, 1979. His parents are Mary and John Winchester."

Looking from Liz to me, Samuel shook his head. "I don't have to listen to this."

I quickly went on, trying to convince him. "Mary gets killed by a yellow eyed demon in 1983, and I think that this... what happened tonight, I think this is the moment that he caught her scent. Now, if we don't catch this thing now, and kill it, and it gets away? Then Mary dies. So I am asking you, please."

The look in his eyes changed a little. I think it was from the fact that the life of his daughter may be in danger, even if the chances of me being right and sane were incredibly small. But I was willing to play on that doubt, to string it into belief, because that's what I needed right now. I needed him to believe me. I needed his help.

"How did I know about the Colt? Huh? How did I know about the Yellow Eyed Demon? Or where it would be? We're not making this up, Samuel."

He ran a hand over his face."Every bone in my body is aching to put you six feet under, but there's something about you. I can't shake it. Now, I may be crazier than you, son, but I believe you."

My whole body relaxed a little- but not entirely. "Thank you."

"Now how do we find this bastard?"

"Right here, the list." I opened dad's journal again, looking down at it.

"And with the Colt?" he asked.

I pulled it out of my jacket and laid it out on the table in front of me. "Yeah."

"Here, let me see it." He reached his hand out.

I hesitated and pulled it away from him slightly. "Sorry, I don't let anybody hold it."

He looked insulted. "I'm your grandfather."

"Nothing personal."

"Sure it is. Especially when it's me you're trying to kill." Samuel's eyes turned yellow.

Before Liz and I could even blink, our chairs were pulled along the ground and pushed against the wall where Yellow-eyes held us. I could barely move my head as I tried to struggle from the hold.

"Future boy and girl, huh?" Yellow-eyes stood and walked over to us. "I only know one thing that's got the juice to swing something like that. You must have friends in high places. So, I kill your mummy? That's why you came all this way, to see little old me?"

I glared at him, feeling all the rage I'd had for this bastard come right back up, as if it never left. "Oh, I came here to kill you."

"Hey, wait a minute." He leaned forward, resting his hands on the arms of my chair. "If that slut Mary's your mummy, are you... are you one of my psychic kids?" Leaning forward, he sniffed my neck before pulling back. "No, not you. But you on the other hand..." He turned to grin at Liz.

She struggled as he pulled away from me and stepped over to stand in front of her chair which was mere inches from mine. But I was still stuck, just like her, and despite how close we were, there was nothing I could do to help.

"I can smell the power dripping off you." He leaned into her neck, taking a deep sniff. "Ripe like cherries," he moaned.

"Don't touch her!" I warned.

He turned his head to look at me, but stayed close to her. "Or what?" Looking to Liz again, he looked pleased. "If the others turned out half as power as you, I must have some strong kids on my hands. Means it all worked out." He pulled away from her. "After all, it's why I'm here."

She snarled at him. "You're a sick bastard. That's what you're doing here, making all these deals. You don't want their souls."

"No, I just want their children. I'm here to choose the perfect parents, like his mummy." He gestured to me.

"Why her? Why any of them?" I asked, needing to know what made our family different, what made him choose mum over others.

"Because they're strong. They're pure, and they eat their Wheaties. My own little master race. They're ideal breeders." When I frowned at him he rolled his eyes. "Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. No one's breeding with me. Though, Mary? Man, I'd like to make an exception. So far, she's my favourite." He grinned, and then turned to Liz. "You too. We could have some fun." Looking her up and down, he leaned in closer again.

She pulled away from him as much as she could. "Why make the deals if you're not taking their souls?" she asked quickly, to distract him.

He sighed and paused, only leaning in halfway towards her. "I need permission. I need to be invited, into their houses. I know, I know, the red tape'll drive you nuts, but in ten short years, it'll all be worth it. 'Cause you know what I'm gonna do to you? And your sibling?" he smirked over to me before focussing on Liz again. "I'm gonna stand over your crib and I'm gonna bleed into your mouth. Demon blood is better than Ovaltine, vitamins, minerals. It makes you big and strong."

"For what?" I glared. "So, they can lead your discount demon army? Is that your big plan?"

"Please, my end game's a hell of a lot bigger than that kid."

"End game?" I asked. "What end game?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you. Or those angels sitting on your shoulder." He shook his head. "No, I'm gonna cover my tracks good."

"You can cover whatever the hell you want, but I'm still gonna kill you."

He scoffed, clearly not believing me. "Right. Now that, I'd like to see."

"Maybe not today, but you look into my eyes, you son of a bitch, 'cause I'm the one that kills you."

He looked me in the eyes, and I wasn't too sure if he believed it or not, but he steered away from that conversation. "So, you're gonna save everybody, is that right? Is that it? Well, I'll tell you one person that you're not gonna save." He pulled a knife from his belt. "Your Grandpappy." With a wink he then plunged the knife into his chest.

"No!" Deanna yelled from where she'd snuck into the dining room.

Yellow-eyes turned to her, seeing her hurrying for the Colt. He simply raised his hand and sent her flying across the room and into the kitchen. Liz and I struggled, watching him walk towards her and disappear around the corner.

A moment or two passed before we were released from the hold.

Leaping from our seats we ran for the kitchen, rushing around the corner. But as we rounded it, we came to a halt, finding Deanna on the floor with her neck broken. Yellow-eyes was nowhere to be seen.

I'd never had a chance to meet either grandparent before, and now they were gone before I'd even had a real chance to get to know them. _No..._

"Dean, your mum."

The pain I felt for the loss of Deanna was pushed to the side as my concern for my mum rose. "Mary!"

But there was no answer. She wasn't home.

**EPOV**

I sat next to Dean as he drove along the road, his feet pressed all the way down as he drove faster than I thought this car would go.

"Dean, if we can get him in a devil's trap I might be able to patch Samuel up. We don't know where Yellow-eyes stabbed him."

"Liz." Dean's jaw was tense, his grip on the steering wheel tight. "Samuel's gone. Deanna's gone. My parents are next. Yours too. I'm killing him."

There was no room for discussion, no place for me to argue. But I wanted to.

It's not like I _wanted_ my family to die, but it's not like my life was horrible. I had Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Sam and Dean. I had Tristan. I could do things most people couldn't. I was a hunter, and had a life most people didn't even know existed. If we killed Yellow-eyes, I had no idea where that would leave me. I had no idea how much things would change, and if it would be for the better.

But Dean wanted- and I guess he needed- to do this. So, I would. For him. That's what you do for family, even though he may only be family for a moment or two longer.

**DPOV**

As I sped around the corner, the headlights of the car landed on Mary and Yellow-eyes as they kissed, while John was lying dead on the ground in Mary's lap.

We were too late. The deal had been made. But maybe, just maybe, I could still stop everything else from coming. If Yellow-eyes stilled died now, mum and dad could still be spared. They still might have a chance.

Stopping the car, I hurried out. "No!" Pulling the Colt out, I went to shoot.

Yellow-eyes pulled his head back and opened his mouth, black smoke coming out as the demon left Samuel's body with a scream.

As Samuel's corpse fell to the ground, Mary looked from her father then over to Liz and myself, looking so guilty. That was until John woke up, having come back to life. She turned and held her to him.

Everything in me broke. I'd failed. There was nothing I could do now. Yellow-eyes was gone and mum had made the deal. Everything was going to happen just like it had before.

A gentle hand landed on my shoulder.

I turned to see Castiel standing by my side. I knew this was it. I knew what this meant. It was time to go back. To go home.

**EPOV**

When we arrived back in our hotel room, back in the present, Dean and I woke up on his bed. I sat up and looked around, making sure everything was how we'd left it, and it was. Including Sam's perfectly made and empty bed.

"We couldn't stop any of it." Dean sat up as well, looking over at Castiel who stood in the middle of the room. "She still made the deal. She still died in the nursery, didn't she?"

"Don't be too hard on yourself." The angel's voice was so flat as he spoke, "You couldn't have stopped it."

Frowning, Dean stood. "What?"

"Destiny can't be changed, Dean." Castiel turned to face us then. "All roads lead to the same destination."

Dean shook his head. "Then why'd you send us back?"

"For the truth. Now you know everything we do."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Instead of answering, Castiel looked over at Sam's empty bed.

I watched as Dean looked over at it as well, before turning back to the angel, worried for his brother. "Where's Sam?"

"We know what Azazel did to Elizabeth and your brother." Castiel didn't answer. "What we don't know is why. What his endgame is. He went to great lengths to cover that up."

"Where's Sam?" Dean repeated.

"Dean..." I got off the bed and moved around towards him, "maybe-"

Castiel cut me off, "425 Waterman."

Grabbing his keys, Dean pointed to my leather jacket that sat on the couch. "Get it and let's go."

Once again there was no room for argument, so I did as I was told and followed him towards the door. But before we could leave, Castiel spoke again, his words stopping us.

"Your brother is headed down a dangerous road, Dean, and we're not sure where it leads. So stop it. Or we will."

**Bamby**


	7. Not Born a Monster

**SPOV**

I stood with Ruby in an abandoned warehouse, looking over the demon we'd tied and trapped in a Devil's trap. "Where's Lilith?" I asked him, not for the first time.

"Kiss my ass," was his response, as he turned his eyes black.

I scoffed at his comment, giving an unamused smile. "I'd watch myself if I were you."

"Why? Huh? Because you're Sam Winchester, Mr Big Hero? And yet here you are, slutting around with some demon. Real hero."

"Shut your mouth," I warned.

But he ignored me, going on, testing my patience and temper. "Tell me about those months without your brother. About all the things you and this demon bitch do in the dark. Huh? Tell me, hero."

It was enough for me to break, unable to control my temper any longer.

Lifting my hand, I focused on the demon, pulling him out of the person he was possessing. Forcing the black smoke which was the demon, to be expelled out of its host and into the floor where it would fall to hell, and burn there.

As soon as the demon was gone, I was relived to find I didn't feel any pain, there was no headache or dizziness I usually felt.

Looking over to Ruby I could see the proud and pleased look in her eyes. We both knew what this meant. If I could exorcise demons with my mind, without side-effects, then things were going to get a whole lot easier and better. I felt pretty good about that.

I moved closer to the man, checking to make sure he still had a pulse. He did. He was still alive. He was the first person to actually survive this. More progress.

As I smiled up at Ruby, she smiled back at me. "How'd it feel?"

"Good," I answered as I began to untie the man. "No more headaches."

"None? That's good."

As I finished with his ties, the man began to wake.

"Hey, hey. I got you," I assured him. "It's all right." Helping him out of the chair, I wrapped my arm around him to keep him steady as I turned to walk us out of here. But before I got far I stopped in my tracks.

Standing between me and the exit was none other than Dean and Lizzie.

**EPOV**

I stood behind Dean, trying to get Sam's attention with my eyes so I could assure him that I did not rat him out. I knew how it looked, Dean and I showing up like this. I knew Sam probably thought I'd said something to his brother. But I didn't, and I needed him to know that.

"So... anything you wanna tell me, Sam?" Dean asked, clearly pissed.

Sam placed the man he'd been helping, back into the chair as he stood there watching Dean slowly walk up to him. Ruby moved closer to Sam, her eyes flickering towards me for a moment before she focused on Dean again.

"Dean, hold on, okay?" Sam started. "Just let me-"

But Dean cut him off before he could say anymore. "You gonna say, 'let me explain'? You're gonna explain this?" He shook his head. "How about this? Why don't you start with who she is, and what the hell is she doing here?" he asked, gesturing to Ruby.

Sam turned back to look at Ruby who was completely calm. Hell, she even smiled at Dean as she spoke. "It's good to see you again, Dean."

Dean nodded slightly, knowing who she was in an instant. "Ruby?" He looked to his brother. "Is that Ruby?"

Sam didn't say anything. No one said anything. Dean simply looked from his brother, back to Ruby, scoffing lightly before he snapped into action. He grabbed her and pushed her back so she was against a wall as his pulled the demon knife out of his jacket and aligned it with her chest, ready for the kill.

Before Dean could kill her though, Sam grabbed his hand and pulled him back. "Don't!"

The two struggled for the knife for a moment until Sam managed to snatch it out of Dean's grasp just as Dean pushed him against the wall. Ruby grabbed Dean and pinned him where he'd had her, defending Sam.

"No!" I didn't even have to lift my hand to throw her away from Dean and towards the wall by Sam, which is where I pinned her so she couldn't move.

Dean made the smallest of movements, but I could see in his eyes that he was ready to attack Ruby again, thinking this was an invitation to kill her. So, with a flick of my eyes, I held him in place as well, keeping both of them pinned in their spots.

Sam looked to each of them for a moment and then turned his attention to me. "Lizzie, let them go."

"They'll kill each other," I warned, feeling it in my gut. It was Ruby I was mostly worried about, thinking she'd go for Dean the instant I released her.

Sighing, Sam turned to her. "Enough."

She was tense for a moment longer, still ready for a fight. But she knew there was no way I was letting her go if she wasn't going to listen. So, after a second or two, she relaxed, giving up and doing as Sam ordered.

Once I was sure both were calm enough, I let them go, and sure enough, they didn't attack each other.

Dean glared at her though. "Well, aren't you an obedient little bitch?"

She didn't say anything back, but we could all tell she wanted to attack him. We could read it in her body language.

"Ruby," Sam warned. She stared at Dean a little longer before looking over at Sam. "Ruby, he's hurt." He indicated to the man he'd been helping before, the one he'd exorcised. "Go."

Giving Dean one more glare, and me a quick look over, she walked over to the man and helped him to his feet, putting his arm over her shoulder and her arm around his waist so she could walk him out.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Dean asked, watching her go wearily.

"The ER," she answered with a shrug, "unless you want to go another round first." With no other response from any of us, she left.

The moment Ruby was gone, Dean looked to his brother. I could practically see the disappointment and anger dripping off him.

"Dean-"

Instead of listening to Sam, Dean turned ad started for the door.

"Dean!" Sam called after his brother, but it was too late, he was already gone.

**SPOV**

Lizzie had explained to me that she hadn't told Dean a single thing. The moment we were alone, she'd assured me there was no way she would have told Dean anything.

But the thing is, she didn't have to tell me any of that. I knew she hadn't been the one to tell him. She was my best friend, she'd been by my side through most of the crap I'd went through after Dean died, she would never betray me like that.

That left me with one question... how _did_ Dean find out?

The answer was a shock, really. Hearing Lizzie tell me that Castiel- the angel- had told Dean where I was. It made me wonder why.

It was morning now. Dean hadn't come back to the hotel after he walked out of the warehouse last night. Lizzie had tried staying up, but ended up taking one of her pills and then crashed on Dean's bed. I hadn't slept though. Instead I'd kept myself busy with aimless research.

The door swung open and slammed shut as Dean came in, waking Lizzie. She sat up suddenly, startled, but froze as Dean walked to his bed and began gathering his things, not looking at me.

I stood, watching him, confused. "Dean, what are you doing?"

He glanced up for a moment, his eyes landing on Lizzie. "Pack your things."

She went to move, but stopped as I spoke again, shaking my head, "What, are you- are you leaving?"

"You don't need us," Dean answered. "You and Ruby go fight demons." He shoved some more things into his bag, looking up at Lizzie again. "We're going. Now. Pack. I'll meet you in the car," he told her, moving for the door.

Before he could go far, I moved to stand in his way, keeping him from leaving. "Hold on. Dean, come on, man."

I had no time to dodge him as he lifted his fist and punched me in the face.

He just watched as I recovered, giving a short shrug and ignoring my bleeding lip. "You satisfied?" I asked.

Once again, he lifted his fist and punched me. This time, I let him.

Wiping the blood from my lip, I turned to face him again. "I guess not." I shrugged once more.

He dropped his bag, getting ready for more.

"Stop it!" Lizzie scrambled off the bed, putting herself between us, her hand on Dean's chest. "Please, just stop."

Dean continued to glare at me, shaking his head. "Do you even know how far off the reservation you've gone? How far from normal? From human?"

"I'm just exorcising demons." I didn't understand what the big deal was.

"With your mind!" he yelled back before taking a breath and going on in a calmer tone. "What else can you do?"

"I can send them back to hell. It only works with demons, and that's it," I assured him.

When he went to take a step closer to me, Lizzie turned to him completely, pressing a hand to his chest to keep him back. "He's telling the truth, Dean."

Dean paused, his gaze slowly falling to her. "You knew?"

_Oh, no..._

"Yes," she answered, her confidence not as strong as it usually was.

"And you didn't say anything?"

"Keeping secrets is what friends do."

"He's my brother!"

Seeing how things could get worse for Lizzie, I pulled the attention back to me. "Look, I should have said something." Dean's eyes snapped to mine as I went on, "I'm sorry, Dean. I am. But try to see the other side here."

"The other side?"

"I'm pulling demons out of innocent people."

"Use the knife!"

"The knife kills the victim!" I yelled back. I just didn't understand why he couldn't see the good in all of this. "What I do, most of them survive! Look, I've saved more people in the last five months than we save in a year."

"That what Ruby want you to think? Huh? Kind of like the way she tricked you into using your powers?" He shook his head. "Slippery slope, brother. Just wait and see. Because it's gonna get darker and darker, and God knows where it ends."

"I'm not gonna let it go too far," I assured him.

He smiled at that, but it was clear he didn't find it amusing, that he didn't believe me. Walking away from Lizzie, he stopped in front of one of the bedside tables, pausing a moment before he grabbed one of the lamps and threw it across the room.

Lizzie flinched back as I moved closer, instinctively ready to protect her even though we both knew Dean would never lay a finger on her.

"It's already gone too far, Sam." He turned back to us. "If I didn't know you... I would wanna hunt you. And so would other hunters."

Lizzie flinched again, pulling back a little more, to the point where her side brushed my arm.

I knew he didn't realise it, but he wasn't just hurting me here. For years now, Lizzie had been using the powers she'd gotten from the demon blood. At first, I hadn't liked it just like Dean hadn't, but we were all so use to it now, we didn't really think about it.

His words hurt me too, even though I could understand where he was coming from. I guess seeing me use my new powers was too much for him. Seeing me use them with Ruby would have made it worse. Keeping it from him was just the cherry on top.

But it didn't make what he said any easier to swallow.

"You were gone," I told him. "We were here. We had to keep on fighting without you. And what I'm doing... it works."

Pulling back, he nodded lightly. "Well, tell me. If it's so terrific... then why'd you lie about it to me?" he asked, causing me to look away with guilt. "Why did an angel tell me to stop you?"

 _Lizzie hadn't mentioned that..._ "What?"

Dean nodded at my question. "Cas said that if I don't stop you, he will," he explained. "See what that means, Sam? That means that _God_ ," he pointed to the roof, "doesn't want you doing this. So, are you just gonna stand there and tell me everything is all good?"

Tears were brimming my eyes as I looked to my brother a moment longer before I my gaze turned to the floor. I had no idea how I was supposed to respond, no idea how I could ever apologize enough to get him to forgive me, no idea how to explain in a way so he'd understand.

That's the hardest part of all of this. No one could really understand, no one but Lizzie. Yet, even then there were times- most of the time- where I just wanted to talk to my brother about it all. I'd never be able to though, I knew that.

My phone started to ring, cutting through the silence. Lizzie and Dean both jumped at the sound as I pulled my phone out of my pocket to answer it.

"Hello?" I pinched the bridge of my nose as I listened to the person on the other end. "Hey, Travis. Yeah, hey. Uh..." I paused as he spoke. "It's good to hear your voice, too, yeah. Um, look, it's not a really good time right now. It's-" He cut me off to tell me about a case. "Yeah, okay. Uh, well, just give me the details, and, uh..." I nodded, listening to him. "Carthage, Missouri." Walking over to the other bedside table, I wrote the details down. "Looking for Jack Montgomery." With that, I hung up.

Breathing heavily, trying to keep control of everything, I looked over at Lizzie and Dean, seeing the two of them looking anywhere but at each other or me.

**EPOV**

I was in the back of the Impala, on my phone, trying my best to get myself out of the situation I was in, while the brothers sat in the front as Dean told Sam all about the little adventure Castiel had sent us to.

_Where are you?_

_I could use a break xox_

_\- L_

"I can't believe it." Sam shook his head. "Mum, a hunter?"

"I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it myself." Dean chuckled lightly. "That woman could kick some ass. I mean, she almost took me down."

_I'm on a case._

_Everything okay?_

_\- T_

"How'd she look? I mean..." Sam hesitated before elaborating. "Was she happy?"

"Yeah, she was awesome. Funny and smart. So hopeful." Dean looked over at his brother briefly, then turned back to the road. "Dad, too. Until of course..."

_I'm fine. I just need to see you._

_Can you come get me?_

_\- L_

Sam sighed, drawing Dean's attention back to him. "What?"

_I can be there in a couple of days._

_Just gotta finish the job and then I'm all yours xx_

_\- T_

Looking out his window, Sam shook his head. "Nothing."

_Thank you xox_

_\- L_

There were a few reasons why I wanted to have some time away from the brothers. One, I felt like it would be for the best, so they could reconnect. Two, I wasn't sleeping properly and feeling too good, which could put us in danger. Three, I missed Tristan. Four, what Dean had said about hunting Sam, that hurt me, it even scared me. If he felt like that towards his brother, then how did he feel about me?

After a moment, Sam spoke up, turning to his brother. "It's just, our parents. And now we find out our grandparents too? Our whole family murdered and for what? So Yellow Eyes could get in my nursery and bleed in my mouth?"

I tensed as I pulled my attention away from my phone and looked over at the eldest Winchester... Dean didn't know Sam and I found out about the blood years ago...

Dean was looking to the road, but it was clear he was trying to think about the conversation as if trying to figure out if he'd mentioned that to his brother. It didn't take him long to realise he hadn't. "Sam, I never said anything about demon blood." He looked to Sam and then me, guilt clear on our faces. "You two knew about that?"

Looking anywhere but at his brother, Sam nodded. "Yeah, for about a year."

Eyes on the road again, Dean shook his head. "A whole year?"

"We should have told you," Sam admitted. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," I added quickly.

Dean just shook his head again. "You've been saying sorry a lot lately, Sam. But whatever. You don't want to tell me, you don't have to. It's fine."

"Dean," Sam sighed, turning to his brother, but Dean ignored him, focusing on the road. "Whatever." Sighing again, Sam looked out the window, the three of us falling into an uncomfortable and tense silence.

**SPOV**

Dean and I looked through binoculars, watching the house across the street. We were focused on the guy in the kitchen, reaching into the fridge to grab a beer. He looked completely average, nothing weird about him. So why did Travis want us watching him?

"Are you sure that's him?" Dean asked.

I nodded. "Only Jack Montgomery in town."

"And we're looking for...?"

Lowering my binoculars, I turned to shrug at him. "Travis said to keep an eye out for anything weird."

Lizzie reached over and grabbed Dean's binoculars, taking a look. "The guy is completely normal, to an excruciating boring level." She lowered the binoculars and turned to me. "Are you sure your friend hasn't hit his head on the job too many times, or something?"

"Travis seemed pretty sure," I assured her, turning back to watch Jack again.

He was leaning on the kitchen island, looking thoughtful as if trying to make a decision, drinking his beer. As he lifted the bottle to his lips again, he paused and looked around to see if anyone was watching. Then he pushed off the bench and opened the fridge again.

Dean, Lizzie and I watched as he grabbed some food and began to eat it frantically as if he had gone without food for days. Once he was finished with it, he put it to the side as grabbed a pack of _uncooked_ meat and began to dig into it like a rabid animal ripping into its kill.

Suddenly he stopped and looked over his shoulder, a noise or something must have caught his attention. He looked to the food again, and it was clear he now realised what he'd just done.

Lowering her binoculars, Lizzie shuddered. "I think I just became a vegetarian."

**DPOV**

I opened Sam's and my hotel room door, walking in only to come to a stop at the sight of an older man sitting at our table drinking our beer, completely at home.

A smile crept on to my lips. "Travis." I turned to Sam as he stood next to me. "See, Sam. Told you we should have hid the beer."

Travis got up and moved towards he, smiling widely. "Smartass. Get over here." He laughed, pulling me in for a hug. "Ahh, good to see you."

"You too." I hugged him back.

As he pulled away, he turned to give Sam a hug. "Good to see you."

"You too, Travis."

Stepping back, he looked Sam up and down. "Man, you got tall, kid." We all laughed. "How long has it been?"

"Ah, gotta be ten years," Sam answered.

"You still a... oh, what was it... a mathlete?"

Sam scoffed. "No."

Lifting my hand, I gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Yep, sure is."

Still smiling widely, Travis shook his head, looking at the two of us. "Been too long, boys. I mean, look at you. Grown men. John would have been damn proud of you. Sticking together like this."

"Yeah. Yeah, we're as thick as thieves." I turned to Sam, giving him a look that had his smile slowly disappearing. Nodding, I looked to Travis again. "Nothing more important than family."

Walking back over to the table- Sam and I right behind- Travis got to business. "Sorry I'm late for the dance," he started, taking a seat at the table. I took the other seat while Sam sat on the closer bed. "Thanks for helping out an old man. I'm a little, uh, shorthanded." He chuckled as he gestured to his right arm which was covered by a cast. "So, you track down Montgomery?"

"Yeah, we found him at his home." Sam nodded.

"And?"

I shrugged. "Well, he had a hell of a case of the munchies, topped off with a burger he forgot to cook."

Travis sighed. "That's him alright."

"What's him?" I asked.

"Boys, we got a rougarou on our hands."

"A rougarou?" I turned to Sam, wondering if he knew what that meant, because I had no clue. "Is that made up?" Before he could answer, I turned back to Travis. "That sounds made up."

"They're mean, nasty little suckers." Travis sighed. "Rotted teeth, wormy skin, the works."

I shook my head. "Well, that ain't this guy. I mean, he was wearing a cell phone on his belt."

"Rougarou start off like every other human, but as time goes by, they change. Evolve. Turn into the ugliest things I have probably ever seen," Liz noted as she closed the hotel room door. "But that's not even the worst part about them. It's their hunger you have to watch out for."

Travis looked over at her, clearly impressed. "I don't think we've met before." He stood, offering her his hand to shake. "The name's Travis."

"Elizabeth." She gave him a polite smile, shaking his hand.

"You boys didn't tell me you had a friend with you." Travis turned to Sam and me. "Or that she was smart _and_ gorgeous."

"Yeah, Liz hunts with Sam and me," I stated, wanting to get back on track. "So, rougarou. What do they eat, exactly?"

Sighing, Travis sat back down. "At first, for everything, but then... for long pig."

Sam made a noise, clearly knowing what that meant, which by the sound he made, isn't good.

Confused, I looked to the three of them. "Long pig?"

"He means human flesh," Sam filled in.

I gave a short nod. "And that is my word of the day."

Travis gave an amused smile before going on, "Hunger grows in, till they can't fight it. Till they got to take themselves a big, juicy chomp, and then it happens."

"What happens?" Sam asked.

"They transform completely and fast," Travis answered. "One bite's all it takes. Eyes, teeth, skin. All turns. No going back either. They feed once, they're a monster forever. And our man Jack's headed there on a bullet train."

I frowned, not understanding one part of this story. "Well, how'd you find this guy if he's a walking, talking human?"

"Let's just say it runs in his family."

"You mean, uh-"

Travis cut Sam off, answering, "Killed his daddy back in '78. Son of a bitch mangled eight bodies before I put him down. Guy used to be a dentist. Cadillac, trophy wife... little did I know, pregnant trophy wife. She put the boy up for adoption. By the time I found out, he was long gone, lost in the system."

"You mean to tell me you couldn't find someone?" Sam sounded as surprised as I was. Travis was an expert at finding people.

Sighing, Travis gave a short shake of his head. "I'm not sure I wanted to. The idea of hunting down some poor kid... I don't think I'd have the heart. No. I wanted to wait, make damn sure I had the right man. Apparently, I do."

**Bamby**


	8. Burn

**EPOV**

I sat with Sam by his computer in my room, doing some research. I'd heard about rougarou before, I knew the stories and the lore. So, hearing Travis explain it to the brothers, well it had me a little concerned. I knew there was another way out of this. I knew we could finish the case without killing anyone. But I also knew the only person who would listen to me was Sam.

Which is why we were in my room researching, and not in his where Dean and Travis could hear our theories and concerns.

"You were right." He gestured to the screen. "There are stories of people fighting the urge to kill. They never take the last step."

Sighing, I stood up and walked away from the bed. "Yeah, only problem is, how do we tell Dean and your trigger-friendly-friend Travis?"

We shared a look, both understand what I wasn't saying.

This Jack guy was going through the same kind of things as Sam and me. Only, we weren't on the verge of tearing people apart with our teeth. Dean and Travis would never understand that. They'd never get what it feels like to have so little control over your future.

Dean's words from before started playing in my mind as I thought about the fact he hated Sam using his powers so much, he punched his brother and told him he would hunt him if they weren't brothers.

How did he see me, then? Was a monster? Was I on the edge of crossing that line? Was he as scared for me as he was for Sam? Or was he scared _of_ us? Did I even mean enough that he wouldn't hunt me if things got bad? Was staying with him, putting myself in danger? Would he kill me?

A tear rolled down my cheek at the painful thought of Dean killing me. There weren't a lot of things in the world that scared me more than that...

"Lizzie." Sam pushed himself off the bed and came over to me.

I wiped away my tears, shaking my head. "I'm fine," I tried to assure him, even though it was a lie.

"No. You're not." Grabbing my shoulder, he gently pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me as his cheek rested against the top of my head.

I leaned into him, enjoying the comfort from my friend. We'd gotten closer over the four months Dean had been in hell. Sam was like the brother I'd never had. I knew, no matter what, he'd always have my back. It was nice, having someone like him around.

But at the same time, I knew being with Sam meant being with Dean, and I wasn't sure if I could handle that for much longer. Not right now at least.

Sighing, I pulled back from Sam, looking up at him. "I need you to do me a favour."

**DPOV**

"So, Elizabeth?" Travis gave me a grin as we worked on fixing up some gas cans.

I chuckled lightly. "What about her?"

"Who's the lucky guy, you or Sam?" he asked, when I didn't say anything, he stopped working and turned to me completely. "Don't tell me you've got a girl like her around and you're not doing something about it. She's a catch. So, catch."

Shaking my head, I focused on the can in my hands as I responded, "Liz and I… we have a past. But things are complicated right now," I explained, not wanting to tell him anymore. Getting back to business, I nodded to the cans. "So fire, huh?"

"The only way I found to kill these bastards. Deep-fry 'em."

"Well, that's gonna be... horrible. Is that what you did to Jack's dad?"

He gave a short nod. "Uh-huh."

The room door opened as Sam came in with some papers in his hands. Looking over at us, he gave a slight frown, seeing the gas cans in our hands. "Not wasting any time, are you?"

Travis shrugged. "None to waste. The guy hulks out, we won't be finding bodies, just remains."

"What if he doesn't hulk out?" Moving to take a seat on the bed near the table, Sam gestured to the papers he held. "I did a little homework. Uh, I've been checking out the lore on rougarous."

"What?" Travis looked a little offended. "My thirty years of experience not good enough for you?"

"What?" Sam chuckled nervously. "No. No, I-I- I just wanted to be prepared. I mean, not that you didn't..."

Seeing him struggle, I spoke up, saving his ass. "Sam loves research. He does. He keeps it under his mattress right next to his KY. It's a sickness." I looked to my brother. "It is."

Shaking his head, Sam got back to it. "Look, everything you said checked out, of course, but uh. I found a couple of interesting stories about people who have this rougarou gene or whatever. See, they start to turn, but they never take the final step."

This was news to me. "Really?"

"See, if they never eat human flesh, they don't fully transform."

"So what? Go vegan, stay human?" I asked.

Sam nodded. "Basically. Or in this case, eat a lot of raw meat, just not-"

"Long pig," I finished.

"Right."

"Good on you for the due diligence, Sam." Travis got up and walked over to the kitchen in the hotel room. "But those are fairy tales," he stated, pouring himself a coffee. "Fact is, every rougarou I ever saw or heard of... took that bite."

Standing up, Sam turned to him. "Okay, well, that doesn't mean that Jack will," he argued as I stood as well, taking his papers to give them a look over.

"So, what do we do? Sit and hope and wait for a body count?" Travis asked.

Sam shook his head. "No, we talk to him. Explain what's happening. That way he can fight it."

"Fight it?" Travis laughed. "Are you kidding me? You ever been really hungry?" he asked, pulling my attention away from the paper. "I mean, haven't-eaten-in-days hungry?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Yeah. Right then. So somebody slaps a big, juicy sirloin in front of you, you walking away?"

I thought about it for a moment before I realised I wouldn't. If I was hungry and the food was being offered, the there was no way I was going to give up the chance for a big, juicy steak.

"That's what we are to him now, meat on legs." Travis shrugged. "I'm sorry. I'm sure he's a stand-up guy, but it's pure, base instinct. Everything in nature's gotta eat. You think he can stop himself 'cause he's nice?"

"I don't know," Sam started, not backing down. "But we're not gonna kill him unless he does something to get killed for." He was final as he looked to Travis a moment longer before walking out the room.

We watched as he left, waiting for the door to close behind him.

"What's up with your brother?"

I shook my head, moving to sit down again. "It's a long story."

**SPOV**

"All right, so we're gonna go have a little chat with this guy which, you know... I'm down," Dean noted as he drove down the road. "But I just want to make sure, if push comes, you two are gonna shove." He looked over at me and then at Lizzie through the rearview mirror.

I frowned, turning to him. "Meaning?"

"Well, odds are we're gonna have to burn this guy alive." He shrugged.

"This guy has a name and a wife," I noted.

He nodded. "Yeah, who we're probably gonna make a widow, okay? I mean, you heard Travis. He's gonna turn. They always turn."

"You don't know that. And neither does he. Just because everyone he's killed has turned, doesn't mean they all do." The tone of Lizzie's voice made it crystal clear that she wasn't particularly fond of Travis' ways.

It's funny, when we first met her, she was a kill-first-ask-questions-later kind of girl. She hardly blinked at the idea of killing whatever monster we were hunting.

But it was different now. It was different because things weren't that black and white anymore. She wasn't on one side of the fence, and neither was I. Part of us was something else, something that wasn't human. _We_ weren't completely human. That would change anyone's view on the world. It changed mine.

"Maybe he can fight it off," I noted, agreeing with Lizzie.

"And maybe he can't, that's all I'm saying." Dean was just as sure as Lizzie and I were, only we weren't all on the same side of the argument.

"All right, we'll just have to see then, okay?"

Dean shook his head. "This is what I mean, Sam. You sure your emotions aren't getting in the way here?"

I looked to him again, frowning once more. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, nice dude, but he's got something evil inside." He looked to me and Lizzie briefly before focusing on the road again. "Something in his blood. Maybe you two can relate."

I tensed my jaw, patience and temper at they're limit. "Stop the car."

Dean was genuinely confused. "What?"

"Do it, Dean, or I will," Lizzie snapped from the back seat.

Doing as he was told, Dean pulled over to the side of the road. But before he stopped the car, Lizzie and I were already getting out. Dean wasn't even out of the car by the time Lizzie turned and started to storm off to the lake we'd stopped by.

I slammed my door shut, turning to glare at Dean as he stood out of the car now. "You want to know why we've been lying to you, Dean? Because of crap like this."

"Like what?" he asked as we moved around the car.

"The way you talk to me, the way you look at me like I'm a freak!" I pushed past him, taking a few steps closer to the lake before turning to him again, pissed.

"I do not," he argued.

"You know, or even worse, like I'm an idiot!" Walking up to him, I got a little closer than usual as I went on. "Like I don't know the difference between right and wrong!" Sighing, I turned and started to walk a few steps away. When I turned again, he was looking at the ground, thinking. "What?"

Looking to me again, not pissed but not happy, he shrugged. "Do you know the difference, Sam? I mean, you've been kind of strolling a dark road lately."

"You have no idea what I'm going through. None."

"Then enlighten me!"

"I've got demon blood in me, Dean! This disease pumping through my veins, and I can't ever rip it out or scrub it clean! I'm a whole new level of freak!" I shook my head. "And I'm just trying to take this- this curse... and make something good out of it. Because I have to."

As I looked away from him, I knew he was watching me, thinking it over before he spoke again. "Let's just go talk to the guy," he suggested, causing me to scoff. "I mean Jack. Okay?"

After a moment, I gave a short nod before looking over at Lizzie, seeing her leaning against a tree, looking out at the water, quite a few feet away from us.

"I'll go get her," Dean offered. "Should probably hear her side of the story too." He sighed, walking past me and towards Lizzie.

**EPOV**

I looked out at the water, wishing I could just float away and pretend none of my problems existed. Maybe I'd float off to a little island or uninhabited forest. I could stay out there and forget the rest of the world, even if just for a few days.

Shaking my head- knowing that deep down, I didn't want that- I reached into my pocket and pulled out the bottle of pills, pouring one into my palm and then popping it into my mouth. I swallowed it without any water, putting the bottle back in my pocket.

A small shiver ran through me, causing my arms to come up so I was hugging myself, trying to keep myself warm.

"Hey."

I jumped at the sound of Dean's voice.

Turning to him, I pushed off the tree and took a few steps back as I hugged myself a little tighter. "Hi."

"Look, I didn't mean-"

"To tell Sam that if he wasn't your brother, you'd hunt him?" I shook my head at him. "You were gone for four months, Dean. Sam and I, we didn't know what to do. Do you know what that feels like, do you have any idea? Losing you, it almost killed us. It almost _destroyed_ your brother. And now that your back you feel like you have the right to judge him?"

"Liz-"

"Ruby is a demon. Yes. Castiel told you to stop, Sam. Yes. But that does not mean you get to throw a tantrum because you don't like the way your brother decided to cope with losing you. He did the best he could without you here. So, back off, and actually try to understand his side of things," I snapped before I turned to look out at the lake again as my arms came up to hug myself once more.

Dean stood there for a moment, watching me, taking in everything I'd just said. I was sure there might have been a line I'd just crossed, but I didn't care. It was about time someone told him off for being such a dick to Sam.

After a while, he stepped closer to me, lifting his hand to rest on my arm. I flinched back, causing him to sigh. "Liz, I don't want to hurt you. Or Sam."

"Could have fooled me," I mumbled.

Shaking his head, he stepped a little closer. "I know I'll never understand what you and Sam are going through, no one else will understand. But... I'll try," he offered, causing me to look up at him, surprised. "Now, come on. You're freezing."

Being my stubborn self, I stood my ground. "I'm fine."

He simply chuckled. "You're shivering." Stepping even closer, he rubbed my arm, warming me up- which actually helped more than I thought it would have. "You wanna get out of here?"

Giving in, I nodded. "Yes, please."

Chuckling again, he wrapped his arm around me as we started for the car.

...

Sam led the way as he walked through the gate of Jack's back yard, Dean was right behind me as the three of us walked into the yard. Jack was there, watering his garden with the hose, seeming to be deep in thought, or maybe just zoning out.

"Jack Montgomery?" Sam asked, catching Jack's attention. He turned to us, surprised but didn't say anything. "I'm Sam Winchester. This is my brother, Dean. And our friend Elizabeth." Jack looked to each of us. "We need to talk," Sam noted.

Turning his attention back to Sam, Jack finally spoke. "About?"

"About you," Sam answered. "About how you're changing."

"Excuse me?"

"You're probably feeling your bones move under your skin," Dean started. "And your appetite's reaching, you know, 'hungry, hungry hippo' levels. How am I doing so far?"

Frowning, Jack looked to each of us again. "Who the hell are you guys?"

"We're people who know a little something about something." Dean shrugged.

Sam elaborated, giving Jack an answer he might actually like. "We're people who can help. Please, just hear us out."

...

After we'd tried explaining everything to Jack, we stood back and waited as it all processed. But it appeared, things weren't going to go as easy as we hoped. Not that I thought they would. Finding out you might become a monster isn't exactly a walk in the park.

Jack shook his head. "A-a what?"

"A rougarou," Dean repeated. "Sounds made-up, I know, but believe me, it's not."

"Alright, I've noticed certain things. I mean, some strange things. But I just, I-I don't know. I'm... I'm sick or something." Jack was completely in denial.

"Your father was one of these things," Sam told him, causing Jack to turn to him again. "Your real father. He passed it on to you."

"No. Are-are you guys listening to yourselves? You s-sound like you're-"

"Insane? Yeah, okay, we get it. But let's not ignore the facts, Jack." I took a step closer, my hands in my pockets. "You're hungry. Starving. And that's not going to go away easily. It's just going to get worse. "

"Hungrier for?"

"Long pig," Dean answered without hesitation. "You know, a little man-burger helper, may have crossed your mind already."

"No," Jack answered simply, but I could see it in his eyes, the doubt, the fear, the truth.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Jack. You can fight it off," Sam insisted.

"No," Jack repeated, turning away from us.

"Others have," Sam assured him.

"We're not gonna lie to you, though." Dean shook his head. "It's not gonna be easy. You're gonna feel like an alcoholic swimming around in whiskey. But I'm telling you. You gotta say no... or-"

Jack cut him off, turning to us again, "Or what?"

"One bite, and it's over. You'll change. And then we'll have no choice." I looked Jack in the eyes, not dancing around anything as I told him the complete truth. "We'll have to stop you."

"Stop me?" He looked down at me. "My dad, did uh, somebody stop him?"

"Yes." There was no need for me to lie.

That pushed him over the line. "Get off my property right now. I see you guys again, I'm calling the cops."

Sam stepped closer, still trying to get through to him. "Jack, your wife, everybody you know, they're in danger."

"Now!" Jack snapped.

Sam's hand landed on my arm, pulling me away. We both knew this was a lost cause, there was no getting through to him. At least not now, and not here.

As Dean, Sam and I headed for the gate again, Dean came to stand on my other side, looking over at his brother. "Good talk."

**SPOV**

We'd been following Jack all day, making sure he didn't do anything stupid- like kill someone. It was dark now. He was seated on a bench on the street, his phone to his ear. He'd been sitting there for a while now.

"So, have you told Travis what we're doing?" Lizzie asked from the back seat of the Impala, looking at the back of Dean's head.

"He knows," Dean answered without turning to her.

"And what? He has no problem with us stalking his prey without him?"

Sighing, Dean turned to look at her. "You got something to say, say it."

"Travis is a ticking time bomb. He's gonna do something stupid, probably get himself killed, and ruin any chance of Jack actually coming out of this thing alive and human."

As the two continued to glare at each other, I watched Jack, seeing him get up from the bench and start towards the apartment building across the street, while he looked up at the window where a pretty, young girl was closing her curtains.

"Damn it. Jack. No." I turned to the back seat, grabbing one of the flamethrowers Dean and Travis had made.

Dean and Lizzie got one each as well before the three of us hurried out of the car and started towards the building, hoping we weren't going to be too late.

**DPOV**

I kicked down the apartment door, hurrying inside, flamethrower at the ready as Sam and Liz stepped in to stand either side of me. The woman who lived in the apartment had just come out of her room and screamed at the sight of us before she ducked back into her room, closing and locking the door.

"Wait!" I yelled after her, a little confused. "Whoa, uh, we're here to save you, I guess."

"I'm calling the police!" she called through the door.

"We should go," Sam suggested.

I gave a short nod. "Yeah."

"Best idea yet," Liz added as she turned for the door.

Hurrying back out, I quickly grabbed the door and closed it, giving a short and embarrassed laugh as I did. Once the door was closed, I turned and rushed after Sam and Liz, knowing that if we didn't find Jack soon, things were going to turn bad, fast.

...

I pulled up in front of Jack's house, getting out of Baby as Sam and Liz did as well, all of us carrying a flamethrower each. We all looked across the street, seeing Travis' car parked there.

"I guess now we know where Travis is," I noted before pointing a finger at Liz. "I don't want to hear, 'I told you so'. Okay?" I warned as we started for the front door.

I stepped in first, opening the door slowly and carefully, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Creeping in, I looked around everywhere, keeping my eyes open, looking out for any movement. We had no idea what might be waiting for us.

Sam and Liz were behind me, closing the door behind them as we then headed into the living room. A chair rom the dining table was lying on its side, with some rope by it, but that wasn't what had us stop in the doorway. No, it was the large pool of blood soaking into the carpet, and the trail of blood leading to the back of one of the couches.

We moved over to see what was behind the couch, and what we found was not what I'd been expecting. It was meat. Raw meat. You couldn't even tell what it had once been.

"Oh, God. Think that's Travis?" I asked, looking around, keeping an eye out.

Sam sighed. "What's left of him." As I turned to him, I could see just how defeated he looked. "Guess you were right about Jack."

I was about to respond when a pair of hands suddenly grabbed Liz.

"Lizzie!"

"Liz!"

Sam and I turned to see Jack throw her against the coffee table, knocking her out.

We acted as fast as we could, pulling out our flamethrowers, going for the kill. But just as I got my lighter out and ready, Jack turned and jumped me, knocking the flamethrower out of my hands.

The next thing I know, I've fallen to the ground with Jack on top of me, grabbing my shoulders before he lifted me and then pushed me down hard, causing my head to hit the ground. Then I was out like a light.

**SPOV**

My head hurt like hell as I woke up. Opening my eyes, I looked around, finding myself on the floor in a closet. But worst of all, I was alone. Getting up, I moved for the door handle to get out, only to find it was locked.

"Dean? Lizzie?"

"Dean and Lizzie can't come to the phone right now," Jack called from outside the closet.

I slammed my hands against the door out of frustration and anger. "Jack! If you hurt them, I swear to God!"

"Calm down!" he snapped. "They're alive," he told me, and I relaxed a little, panting as I leaned against the door. "But not if you don't calm down."

Calmer now, I nodded. "Alright, Jack. Listen. Open the door. We can figure this out, okay?"

He laughed. "We'll have ourselves a little brainstorming session." I could hear the desperation in his tone, the underlining fear.

"Jack. Please."

"I don't think so. After what you did?"

I frowned, confused. "What? What are you talking about?"

"You send your friend here. He tried to burn my wife alive."

"What? Why?" I asked as I started searching my pockets.

There was a pause before Jack responded, his tone a little different. "He didn't say." Looking around, I spotted a metal hanger and grabbed it as Jack went on, "I guess psychopaths don't have to explain themselves."

"Listen to me. You gotta believe me. My brother, our friend, and I, we never would have hurt her, okay?" I told him as I started to untwist the hanger.

"Oh, God. I'm so hungry."

Finished untwisting it, I brought the hanger down to the lock to pick it. "Jack, don't do this."

"I can't ever see my family again. You three... your friend. You made me into this!"

"No one's making you kill us," I told him as I kept working the lock, but it just wasn't working. "Listen to me. You got this dark pit inside you. I know." I stopped working, leaning against the door with my eyes closed as I spoke. "Believe me, I know. But that doesn't mean you have to fall into it. You don't have to be a monster," I insisted as I got back to work on the lock.

He laughed again. "Have you seen me lately?"

"It doesn't matter what you are. It only matters what you do. It's your choice."

**EPOV**

I began to stir, hearing voices in the back ground, waking up. My head throbbed, and so did the rest of my body. But a voice in the back of my mind was urging me on, pushing me to keep going, to wake up. I knew there were people I needed to help, people I cared about that were in danger.

As I opened my eyes, I quickly remembered where I was and what happened. Jack had attacked me after Sam, Dean and I found what was left of Travis' body.

Blinking a few times, I looked around, finding that I was lying on the coffee table in the living room. Over on the mat I could see Jack, between me and the closet, his back facing me as he reached over, his hand inching closer and closer to Dean.

I could see it. I could see it in his body language. I could hear it in the noises he was making as he neared Dean. If someone didn't stop him, Jack was going to eat him.

"No!"

As I screamed, Jack was suddenly pushed up on to the roof with a force that was so strong it cracked the ceiling. Just as suddenly, he burst into flames, the red heat swallowing him as he screamed in agony, unable to fight or even move.

The sounds coming from him sounded as if they should be coming from wild animals being ripped apart. He screamed, screeched and wailed as the flames continued to burn him until there was nothing left. Nothing but a burnt, crisp body.

As the flames died, his body fell to the ground, crumbling and breaking at the impact. That's when I noticed the two sets of eyes watching me.

Dean was sitting up by the body, while Sam stood in the doorway of the closet, both of them looking at me with unreadable expressions...

**DPOV**

There was tension in the car as Sam and I drove back to the hotel. Liz had run out of the house before either of us could stop her. She'd jumped into Travis' truck and sped off as we'd called and ran after her. Now we were hoping she'd be at the hotel, hoping we'd find her in her room.

What she did... it scared me. Shocked me, too. With everything Sam had been doing lately, that was just the cherry on top. I had so many questions. Did she know she could do that? If so, how long had she known? Could she do anything else? Did she use the power a lot? What did she use it for? Why burn him on the roof?

That had been just as frightening as her actual power. Seeing Jack burning on the roof. It was too real, brought back too many memories...

"She didn't know."

The sound of Sam's voice had me jump. "What?"

"She's never done that before. Used that power. I thought you should know that before you start judging her." The flatness of his tone told me a lot more than his words did. He was still pissed at me.

"I'm not judging her. I just wanna make sure she's okay," I told him, sighing as he still sat there, tense and pissed. "Sam, I'm sorry. I know I've been kind of hard on you lately."

He shifted then, just slightly. "Don't worry about it, Dean."

"It's just that your, uh... your psychic thing... what you and Liz do, it scares the crap out of me."

"Look, if it's all the same... I'd really rather not talk about it."

I looked over at him briefly, a small smile playing on my lips. "Wait a minute. What? You don't want to talk? You?"

He didn't smile back as he turned to me. "There's nothing more to say. I can't keep explaining myself to you. I can't make you understand."

"Why don't you try?"

"I can't. Because this thing, this blood, it's not in you the way it's in me, the way it's in her. It's just something Lizzie and I have to deal with."

I shrugged. "Not alone."

He sighed, looking out the window. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. These powers..." He shook his head. "I'm done with them. I'm done with everything."

I looked over at him, surprised. "Really?" When he just kept looking out the window, I nodded, turning to the road again. "Well, that's a relief. Thank you."

Sam just scoffed lightly as he turned to me again. "Don't thank me. I'm not doing it for you. Or for the angels or for anybody. This is my choice."

...

Sam picked the lock to Liz's room while I kept watch. Travis' truck wasn't out the front, and all our knocks hadn't been answered, so the only other thing we could do was break in.

"Got it," Sam told me as he opened the door and stepped in.

I was right behind him, moving to start searching the room. But it was empty. There were no clothes, no food in the fridge, the bed was perfectly made. It was as if no one had even stayed in the room in the first place.

"Son of a bitch," I sighed, closing the doors to the wardrobe. I turned, seeing Sam reading a piece of paper as he stood by one of the bedside tables. "What is it?" I asked, moving over to him. He didn't answer. As his silence stretched on, my patience grew thin. "Sam?"

Turning slowly, he handed the note over without a word. Taking it from him, I wasted no time and began to read.

_Boys,_

_You've got questions. I know. I swear, I have never done anything like that before. It scared me as much as it scared you, maybe even more. But I don't know where it came from, and I don't know if Dean can handle both Sam and I right now. So... I'm gonna go away for a while. Just until I can figure some things out, and until you two sort out your own problems._

_Don't worry. I won't be alone. And no, I won't be at Bobby's. Or with Jo. Or Ellen. Tristan was coming to get me tomorrow anyway. Instead, we're meeting up somewhere else. He'll take care of me. He always does- you know that Sam._

_I'll call you in a few days, and you never know, maybe I'll be back after a few hunts. Just give me some time. Let me figure all this out. And then I'll come back. I promise._

_Elizabeth._

I frowned, reading the note over and over again, my confusion and worry only growing more and more. Eventually I lowered the note and turned my frown to Sam.

"Who the hell is Tristan?"

**Bamby**


	9. Fever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okie dokie, the ep Monster Movie? I skipped it. Why? I loved the ep, don't get me wrong, but since my last chapter- seeing as Lizzie's taking some time away from the guys- I felt like skipping the ep was the most logical thing.
> 
> Everything would have happened pretty much exactly like it did on the show, only Dean would have been pissed that he had no idea Lizzie had a boyfriend- which Sam had filled in the blanks about- and he wouldn't have stopped worrying about her either.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy :):)
> 
> Bamby

**EPOV**

Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door to the diner I'd agreed to meet the Winchesters at. It had been a few weeks since I'd run off with only a letter to assure them that I would be fine. During the time apart, Sam and I had shared a few phone calls, but I'd avoided all and any contact with Dean. Out of fear.

But now there was no running. No hiding. It was time to face him.

I saw the backs of their heads as they sat at one of the booths. They were silent, waiting. It made me a little more anxious, knowing that they were expecting me any second.

 _You can do this_.

Walking passed, I slid into the seat across from theirs and looked up at them. "Hi."

Sam shifted where he sat on the edge, a light smile playing on his lips. "Hey, Lizzie."

Dean turned away from the window to meet my gaze. "Tristian didn't want to come in and introduce himself?" he asked. He wasn't happy, that was clear in his tone.

I sighed, having expected something like this. "He did, but I thought it would be best he meet the two of you under less tense circumstances."

Frowning, Dean looked from me, to Sam and then back to me. "You're telling me, you just spent the last few weeks doing God knows what, with a guy neither one of us have met?" He shook his head. "What the hell were you thinking, Liz? This guy could be a serial killer for all you know."

Rolling my eyes, I leaned back in the seat, feeling less tense and more annoyed. "One, I can take care of myself. Two, what I do is my business and not yours. And three, he is a killer... he's a _hunter_." Crossing my arms across my chest, I glared at Dean. "A hunter who doesn't mind that I have psychic powers, might I add."

This is what we were really doing here. This is what I'd met them for. To talk about how we were supposed to go forward, now that we knew my powers were growing just like Sam's were.

"Lizzie," Sam's smile slipped as he looked at my empathetically, "we don't mind-"

"Dean does," I noted, cutting the youngest Winchester off.

"No. He doesn't." Sam turned to give his brother a pointed look. "Right, Dean?"

Looking out the window again, Dean's jaw tensed as he hesitated a moment before speaking. "I'm not gonna lie, Liz. It scares the hell out of me." Turning his gaze to me, he went on, "But I know you don't have any control over what's happening to you. And I know you and Sam need support, not judgment."

Shifting in my spot slightly, I felt a little uncomfortable with the weight of their gazes. Sam and Dean, they meant a lot to me. They're approval meant more than anyone else's. More than Bobby's, Ellen's and Jo's. The brothers were my best friends, and I wanted nothing more than they're support, loyalty and respect.

"Have you..." Sam cleared his throat, trying to figure out the best way to go on. "Have you, you know... figured everything out?"

"You mean, have I learnt how to control the fact I can now start fires with my mind?" Looking down at my folded arms, I shrugged. "Things are better."

"Have you been using the power?" Dean asked.

"No." Sighing I looked to each brother. "I'm not stupid. If the angels don't want Sam using his powers, they won't want me using mine. I know they came from a demon. I know they're meant for bad. So, I'm gonna try not to set things on fire. _Try_. But it's not like I'm a pro at controlling it right now."

"And your other power?"

My eyes snapped to Dean. "That power has saved all of our asses more than once. Castiel hasn't said anything about it, so as far as I'm concerned, it stays."

Dean and I sat there, staring at each other, almost glaring. The tension between us grew with each passing second. It was clear he wanted me to give up all of my powers, but just like with everything, compromising was the best we could do, because there was no way I was giving it all up.

Moving things with my mind wasn't as bad as setting things on fire. Besides, I'd been using telekinesis for so long, I was practically a professional now. When it first started, I could barely move a spoon in my coffee. Now? Now I could break trees, move objects like cars, and so much more. Restrictions were minimal to me now.

But none of that mattered to Dean. He wanted it gone, wanted me to stop. He thought it was dangerous, reckless, like playing with a ticking time bomb. His worry wasn't just about what I- or Sam- might do, but also about my safety. None of us knew what might come from me using the power so much, and that scared Dean, I knew that. But he didn't have to be a dick about it.

Clearing his throat, Sam spoke as Dean and I continued to stare at each other, "So, does this mean you're back? You're hunting with us again?"

"If that's what you boys want."

"We just want you safe, Liz."

"I can handle myself, Dean."

"You sure about that?"

" _Okay_." Sam smiled awkwardly, trying to soften the mood as he went on, "Well, Dean and I think we might have a case. So, you ready?"

Giving a short nod, I slid out of the booth. "Let's go."

**DPOV**

Liz, Sam and I stood in front of the coroner as he unzipped the body bag that sat in front of the four of us. "Agent Tyler, Agent Perry, Agent Whitford, meet Frank O'Brien."

"He died of a heart attack, right?" Sam asked.

"Three days ago."

"But O'Brien was forty-four years old and," Sam opened O'Brian's folder, "according to this, he was a marathon runner."

"Everybody drops dead sooner or later." The coroner shrugged. "It's why I got job security."

"Yeah, but Frank kicked it here," I noted. "Now, just yesterday, two perfectly healthy men bit it in Maumee. All heart attacks, you don't think that's strange?"

"Sounds like Maumee's problem to me. Why's the FBI give a damn, anyway?"

"We go where we're sent sir. Do as we're told." Liz gestured to the body. "And we were told to check out the results of Mr O'Brian's autopsy."

The coroner frowned at her, confused. "What autopsy?"

I gave him a quick smile. "The one you're gonna do."

...

Now dressed in the proper gear for an autopsy, Liz, Sam and I watched as the corner cut into O'Brian's chest with a scalpel. None of us reacted as the blade sliced through the skin. This wasn't even close to the worst thing we'd seen.

"First dead body?" the coroner asked without looking up at us.

I gave a short shake of my head. "Far from it."

"Oh, good. Because these suckers can get pretty ripe. Hey, hand me those rib cutters, would you?" He gestured to the table of tools by Liz. She did as he asked, not even thinking about what she was grabbing- she just knew.

It didn't surprise me. Liz, she knew a lot about a lot. I guess all those years with Bobby, she learnt a few things. Sometimes she even knew more than Sam, and he was the smartest person I knew. The two had a lot of similarities.

Like their powers. I didn't like that they could do these things, and I sure as hell didn't like that they did use the powers they had. But I knew there was no way I could keep them from doing what they wanted, what they felt was right, even though I was pretty sure what they were doing was wrong.

At least Sam had agreed to stop, and Liz was willing not to set things on fire with her mind. If she was willing to compromise, I was happy with the choice she made.

_But I'd be happier if she stopped it all, completely._

As the coroner cut O'Brian's ribs open, I looked over the body, noticing a distinctive mark on one of the finger on his left hand.

"Is that from a wedding ring?" I asked, reaching forward to turn the hand so I could get a better look. "I didn't think Frank was married."

"Ain't my department."

"Any idea how he got these?" Sam gestured to the scratches that ran up and down O'Brian's arm.

"You know what? When you drop dead, you actually tend to drop. Body probably got scraped up when it hit the ground." The coroner paused, looking into the chest, seeming surprised or maybe confused. "Huh..."

"What?" Sam asked.

"I-I can't find any blockages in any of the major arteries." Reaching into the chest, he pulled out the heart. I had to hold back as I gaged, wanting to throw up. "Heart looks pretty damn healthy. Hold that a second, would you?" He gestured for me to take the heart.

Out of instinct, I grabbed it, but was filled with regret in an instant. I was wrong before. This was the grossest thing I had ever done.

"I've got it." Liz actually smiled as she grabbed the heart from me, looking it over curiously. When she noticed Sam, the coroner and I watching her, she looked up and shrugged at us. "I wanted to be a surgeon when I was little."

Looking impressed, the coroner got back to work, reaching into to cut more of O'Brian's insides. Only, as the scalpel cut into the next part, juice squirted out, right onto Sam's face.

"Oh, sorry. Spleen juice."

**EPOV**

I grabbed one of the plastic cups and bent down to fill it up with some of the filtered water in the waiting room of the sheriff's station. Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed one of my pills and popped it into my mouth, swallowing it just as one of the office doors opened.

"Hell's bells, Linus, have you seen my-" The man that had stepped out of the office stopped himself as he looked over at the brothers and me. "Who are they?" he asked the deputy as Sam and Dean stood from where they'd been sitting, waiting.

"Federal agents. I, uh-"

The sheriff cut Deputy Linus off, "And you kept them waiting?"

"You- you said not to disturb..."

Ignoring him, the sheriff gestured to his office. "Come on back, fellas, ma`am." Turning he started towards his office as Sam, Dean and I followed. Reaching the door, he stopped us before we could enter. "Shoes off."

Doing as he said, we all kicked off our shoes. I sighed as my heels sat next to Sam and Dean's shoes. Usually I didn't care about the height difference between the brothers and myself, but with how insecure I was feeling with Dean right now, I wanted those few extra inches.

Stepping into the sheriff's office, he offered each of us his hand to shake. "Al Britton. Good to meet you."

"You too." Sam nodded, taking the seats in front of the desk as Al gestured to them. "Thank you."

Moving to the other side of the desk, Al grabbed a bottle of sanitizer and poured a decent amount on to his hands and rubbing it in. I shared a look with Dean- who was equally weirded out- as he sat next to Sam and I sat next to him.

"Okay." Al sat down in his seat. "So, what can I do for uncle Sam?"

"Well, we're looking into the death of Frank O'Brien," Sam started. "We understand some of your men found his body."

Al nodded, leaning back in his chair. "They did. Me and Frank... we were friends. Hell, we were gamecocks." Dean gave a little snicker, causing me to elbow him in the ribs and for Al to give him a stern look. "That's our softball team's name." when Dean's smile fell, Al added, "They're majestic animals. I knew Frank since high school. To be honest, I just this morning got up the strength to go see him. Frank was... he was a good man."

"Yeah." Dean gave a nod. "Big heart."

I glared at Dean, wishing he'd take this seriously. O'Brian was a person, and Al was his friend. They deserved more respect than Dean was giving.

"Before he died, did you notice frank acting strange?" Sam asked. "Maybe scared of something?"

"Oh hell, yeah. Real jumpy."

"You know what scared him?"

Leaning forward, resting his arms on his desk, Al gave a short shake of his head. "No. Wouldn't answer his phone. Finally, I sent some of my boys over to check on him, and well, you know the rest," he started to cough then, taking a moment to stop before he reached over to grab the sanitizer again.

Dean and I shared another look, not understanding this guy's thing with the sanitizer. I mean, people aren't really like that, are they...?

Slathering his hands with the gel, Al looked to the three of us again. "So, why the Feds give a crap? You don't really think there's a case here?"

"No, no. It's probably nothing. Just a heart attack," Dean assured him.

...

"No way that was a heart attack," Dean stated as the three of us walked down the street, headed for the Impala.

Sam shook his head. "Definitely no way. Three victims, all with those same red scratches. All went from jittery to terrified to dead within forty-eight hours."

"So, what are we thinking? Something scared them to death?" I asked, looking to each brother. "Because, I mean... the list of things that can do that is practically endless."

Dean nodded, agreeing with me. "Ghosts, vampires, Chupacabra? It could be a hundred things."

"We make a list and start crossing things off," Sam suggested.

"Alright, who's the last person to see Frank O'Brien alive?" Dean asked.

"Uh, his neighbour, Mark Hutchins," Sam answered as we were about to cross the road, almost at the car.

Before we could cross though, Dean stopped us. "Hang on, hang on."

"What?" Sam and I asked at the same time.

Pausing a moment, Dean didn't look at us as he spoke. "I don't like the looks of those teenagers down there," he stated, causing Sam and I to look over at the group of teens standing between us and the car. "Let's walk this way." Dean gestured to the other side of the road, crossing it without us.

"Am I missing something? Did something happen while I was gone?"

Sam shook his head. "Not that I know of," he answered as we followed Dean.

**SPOV**

Lizzie, Dean and I sat on Mark Hutchins' couch, across from him and the snake he held. "Tyler, Perry and Whitford." He smiled at us. "Just like Aerosmith."

"Yeah, small world." I quickly went on, wanting to get back to the case. "So, the last time you saw Frank O'Brien?"

"Monday, he was watching me from his window. I waved at him, but he just closed the curtains."

"Hmm. Did you speak to him recently? Did he seem different?" I asked, before elaborating. "Uh, scared?"

"Oh, totally." Mark nodded. "He was freaking out."

"Do you know what scared him?" Lizzie asked.

"Well, yeah, witches."

"Witches?" I shared a look with Dean and Lizzie. It seemed we might be onto something here... "Like...?" I pressed.

Mark shrugged. "Well, _Wizard of Oz_ was on tv the other night, right? And he said that green bitch was totally out to get him."

 _That's not exactly what I was hoping for..._ "Anything else scare him?"

"Everything else scared him. Al-Qaeda, ferrets, artificial sweetener. Those pez dispensers with their dead little eyes. Lots of stuff."

I looked over at my brother then, noticing the way he watched the room, his eyes darting to all the reptiles in their cages and around the room. It was like he was on edge, maybe even scared. Something was definitely up with him.

"Mark, could you tell us what Frank was like?" Lizzie went on with the questioning.

Mark hesitated a moment, not sure if he should answer or not. "I mean, he's dead, you know? I-I don't want to hammer him but, he got better."

"He got better?"

"Well, in high school he was, he was a dick."

"A dick?" I asked.

He shrugged again. "Like a bully. I mean, he probably taped half the town's butt cheeks together," he explained, causing Dean to chuckle lightly. Mark turned to him, unimpressed. "Mine included."

Clearing his throat, Dean dropped his smile, trying to be serious. "So he pissed a lot of people off. You think anyone would have wanted to get revenge?"

"Well, I don't..." Pausing a moment, Mark looked to each of us with a confused frown. "Frank had a heart attack, right?"

"Just answer the question, sir," I told him.

"No, I don't think so. Like I said, he got better. And after what happened to his wife."

"His wife? So he was married."

"She died about twenty years ago. Frank was really broken up about it." Looking over at Dean, Mark smiled lightly, seeing the nervous look on my brother's face. "Don't be scared of Donny." He pet the snake he was holding. "He's a sweetheart. It's Marie you got to look out for." He nodded to the couch, behind us. "She smells fear."

Lizzie, Dean and I looked behind us to see another snake coming up and over, heading towards us. Tensing, Dean looked away, making a noise of discomfort as he tried to ignore the snake. Lizzie though, she surprised us all.

"Hi there." Smiling, she reached over to run her fingers down the body of the snake. "She's beautiful."

I honestly could not believe my eyes. The snake slid over the couch, and onto Lizzie's lap as she continued to pet it. I'd known Lizzie had guts, but I'd never imagined she'd be that brave. All the while, Dean was doing everything he could to keep himself from completely freaking out.

**EPOV**

Sam and I walked up to Baby, seeing Dean in the front seat, scratching at his arm absentmindedly as he read the papers he was holding. The three of us had split up hoping we'd find something that might tell us what the hell was going on.

"Hey. Any luck at the county clerk's office?" Sam asked as he got into the front with Dean, while I climbed into the back.

"I'm not sure I'd call it luck." Dean handed over the papers he'd been reading. "Frank's wife, Jessie, was a manic-depressive. She went off her meds back in '88 and vanished. They found her two weeks later, three towns over. Strung up in her motel room, suicide."

Looking over Sam shoulder, I gave the article a quick read. "You think Frank might have been a part of it?"

Dean shook his head. "No, Frank was working the swing shift when she disappeared. Airtight alibi." He turned on the car before driving onto the road. "How was Frank's pad?"

Sam shrugged. "Clean. Searched it top to bottom. No EMF, no hex bags, no sulfur."

"So probably no ghosts, no witches, no demons," Dean noted. "Three down and ninety-seven to go."

"Yeah." Sam sighed as he looked over to Dean. I noticed him frown at something. "Dude, you're going twenty."

"And?" Dean didn't seem to understand Sam's confused tone.

To see for myself, I leaned forward to take a look, and sure enough Dean was going no more or less than the speed limit. "Dean... you never go the speed limit."

"What? Safety's a crime now?" He sounded offended as he continued to drive... through an intersection... passed our hotel.

Sam watched the building as we passed it. "Dude, where are you going? That was our hotel."

"Sam, I'm not gonna make a left-hand turn into oncoming traffic. I'm not suicidal," Dean told him as if that were obvious. But as Sam and I looked at him, confused, Dean seemed to realise what he'd said. "Did I just say that? That was kind of weird." He chuckled lightly.

A noise started in the back ground, getting our attention.

"Do you hear something?" Feeling around, Sam looked for the source of the noise, finding that it was coming from the EMF meter in his pocket.

Still frowning, Sam moved it closer to Dean. The beeping increased. When Sam pulled the meter away, the beeping stopped...

"Am I haunted?" Dean started freaking out, looking from the road to the reader and then back. "Am I haunted?!"

...

I sat in the back of the Impala while Dean sat in the front. We were waiting in the parking lot by the hotel, while Sam called Bobby to see if they could figure out what the hell was going on. That meant, I was stuck babysitting Dean.

Watching him I shook my head, reaching over to slap his shoulder. "Stop scratching."

Since last night he'd started scratching his forearm, right where we'd seen the scratches on O'Brian's arms...

He grumbled, dropping his arms as he turned to pout at me. "I can't help it."

Sighing, I climbed over into the front seat and sat next to him. "Turn around." When he opened his mouth to speak, I shook my head. "Just turn around." Once he did as I told him, his back now facing me, I reached over to turn the radio on before sliding closer to him as I rested my hands on his shoulders.

 _Eye of the Tiger_ started to play as I began to push my fingers into his shoulders, giving him a massage so he would relax a little. Sure enough, the tension started to lessen as he leaned back into me a little more.

"Oh, God," he groaned. "You're really good at that."

A smile played on my lips as I continued. "My mum used to make my sister and I give her massages after longs days at work. It didn't take me long to get good."

We sat there a little longer, Dean leaning into me more and more as I kept massaging his shoulders, my fingers getting in deep, really working all the tension out. Groaning, Dean relaxed completely, practically going limp. I couldn't help but chuckle lightly at how adorable he was being right now.

"You two okay in there?"

I jumped at the sound of Sam's voice, my hands flying off Dean as I pulled away from him as much as possible.

"Sam!" My voice was a little higher than usual. Getting out of the car, I moved to stand next to the younger Winchester. "I didn't see you there."

"Clearly." He grinned down at me.

Dean climbed out of the car as well, then, coming over to lean against Baby, standing next to me. "Dude. Look at this." He showed Sam's the scratches on his arms.

Sam sighed at the sight of them, not sounding happy at all. "I just talked to Bobby," he noted, handing Dean the box of doughnuts he held.

"And?" Dean asked, smelling the doughnuts before passing them to me.

Sam and I looked perplexed and surprised. Dean never ignored food. He was always thinking with his stomach... _I guess whatever's wrong, really is messing with him._

"Um, well, you're not gonna like it," Sam started.

"What?"

"It's ghost sickness."

"Ghost sickness?" Dean actually sounded disappointed, as if he knew what that meant.

Sam gave a short nod. "Yeah."

"God, no."

I looked to each fo them. "Do you guys even know what that is?" When Dean shook his head, I rolled my eyes. "It's believed that certain spirits can pass diseases over to the living. It's why bodies are no longer displayed in homes during funerals and wakes."

Dean watched me, shaking his head, impressed and shocked. "How do you know all this stuff?"

"I lived with Bobby, Dean," I noted, a grinning playing on my lips again.

"She's right," Sam started. "Symptoms are, you get anxious..."

"Then scared, then terrified, then your heart gives out," I finished.

"But, we haven't seen a ghost in weeks." Dean noted, looking to his brother.

Sam shrugged. "Well, I doubt you caught it from a ghost. Look, once a spirit infects that first person, Ghost sickness can spread like any sickness through a cough, a handshake, whatever. It's like the flu. Now, Frank O'Brien was the first to die, which means he was probably the first infected. Patient zero."

"Our very own outbreak monkey."

"Right. Get this, Frank was in Maumee over the weekend. Softball tournament. Which is where he must have infected the other two victims."

"Were they gamecocks?" Dean asked, pushing off Baby.

Sam shook his head. "Cornjerkers."

"So, ghosts infected Frank. He passed it on to the other guys and I got it from his corpse?"

"Right." Sam gave a short nod.

"So now what, I have forty-eight hours before I go insane and my heart stops?"

Pausing a moment, Sam and I shared a look before he corrected his brother. "More like twenty."

"Super." Shaking his head, Dean leaned on the car again. "Well, why me? Why not you? I mean, you got hit with the spleen juice." He gestured to me. "You played with the heart."

"Yeah, uh, see Bobby and I have a theory about that too. Turns out all three victims shared a certain, uh, personality type. Frank was a bully. The other two victims, one was a vice principal, the other was a bouncer."

"Okay..." Dean nodded, waiting for Sam to elaborate.

"Basically, they were all dicks."

"So you're saying I'm a dick?"

A laugh escaped my lips before I could stop myself. When Dean looked at me, offended, I shook my head. "You're not a dick, Dean. But, I mean... Frank and the others used fear as a weapon..."

"Now this disease is returning the favour," Sam added.

The offended look only increased as Dean looked to Sam and me. "I don't scare people."

Sam scoffed, amused by this brother's denial. "Dean, all we do is scare people."

"Okay, well then, you two are dicks too."

"Apparently, we're not." Sam actually looked a little smug then.

"Whatever. How do we stop it?"

"Find and gank the ghost that started it." I shrugged. It really was that simple.

"We thinking it was Frank's wife?"

"Who knows why she killed herself, you know?" Sam shrugged before he gestured to the hotel behind him. "Hey, what are you guys doing waiting out here, anyway?"

Dean looked up the hotel nervously. "Our rooms on the fourth floor. It's... it's high."

"I'll see if I can move us down to the first." Sighing, Sam shook his head as he started to walk off.

"Thanks," Dean called after him.

Once Sam was gone, I opened the box off doughnuts, offering them to Dean. "You know you want one."

Carefully, he reached in a grabbed one, watching as I did the same. He didn't take a bite until I did, wanting to make sure they were safe.

_This is gonna be a long day..._

**SPOV**

I was headed for Dean's and my hotel room. Lizzie had insisted on getting her own room- which was still on the fourth floor. Neither Dean or I had liked the idea of so much distance between her and us, but at the same time, I understood. Things were still a little tense, Dean going through all of this hadn't changed the facts.

Lizzie's powers were growing, and it scared Dean. Dealing with me had been tough, but now he had both of us changing, I guess it was a little too much. The fact he was protective over her, and that she has a boyfriend he didn't know about and no one's met... well things aren't exactly running smoothly.

But I knew he understood that Lizzie was trying, and Lizzie knew he was trying. It was just a matter of getting used to the three of us being together again.

Opening the door to our room, I paused at the sight of a broken clock on the floor. Looking up, I found Dean sitting on the couch, a beer in hand and his feet on the coffee table.

"Everything all right?" I asked, moving to come sit on the single chair by the couch.

"Oh, yeah. Just peachy." He gave a sarcastic smile. "Find anything?"

"Yeah, Jessie O'Brien's body was cremated, so I'm pretty sure she is not our ghost." Lifting my feet onto the coffee table, I nudged his foot. "Hey, quit picking at that," I told him, seeing that he'd been scratching his arm again. "How you feeling?"

"Awesome. It's nice to have my head on the chopping block again. I almost forgot what that feels like. It's freaking delightful."

"We'll keep looking," I assured him, a moment before he started coughing. "You okay? Hey!" But instead of answering, the coughing got so worse he began to choke. "Dean."

Getting up, Dean hurried- as fast as he could while he choked- over to the sink. Leaning over it, he gaged and cough until he spat something into the sink.

Moving over to stand next to him, I looked down at the wood chip as he picked it up. "We've been completely ignoring the biggest clue we have, you."

He pouted. "I don't want to be a clue."

"The abrasions, this, the disease, it's trying to tell us something."

"Tell us what, wood chips?"

"Exactly."

**DPOV**

I hated this. I hated feeling helpless, and weak, and scared. Deep down, I knew everything I was doing was ridiculous. The real me would kick my own ass right now. But this disease was blurring everything, keeping me from taking control. I hated it.

What I hated more was the fact Liz was driving.

As she stopped Baby by the lumber mill, she still couldn't wipe the smile off her face. I'd wanted to drive, but she insisted that time was an issue and we could waste any with my slow driving. Sam hadn't even blinked as he gave her the keys while I watched, too nervous to argue.

Getting out of Baby, I looked up at the mill. "I'm not going in there."

Liz shrugged, moving to the trunk. "Fine, stay out here. On your own. If this place really is haunted, a scared lonesome man would be the perfect prey."

I swallowed hard, refusing to admit that her words had done exactly what she wanted. Now I was too scared to stay out here on my own.

Reaching into my jacket, I pulled out the bottle of whiskey I'd stashed in there earlier, and took a quick drink. "Let's do this." Moving to stand next to Liz as she unlocked the trunk, I looked at the building again. "It is a little spooky, isn't it?"

Shaking his head, Sam reached into the trunk and grabbed a gun, offering it to me.

"Oh, I'm not carrying that." I shook my head. "It could go off." Leaning into the trunk, I grabbed a flashlight. "I'll man the flashlight."

Sam chuckled lightly. "You do that."

Grabbing a gun for herself, Liz grinned as she turned to me. "Stay close, okay?"

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Her grin simply grew. "More than you could possibly imagine."

**EPOV**

Walking around the lumber mill, we had been moving in silence when the EMF meter in Sam's hand started going off... because Dean had moved closer to his brother.

Dean chuckled lightly, looking up at his brother. "EMF's not gonna work with me around, is it?"

"You don't say." Sam sighed, putting it away. "Come on."

Before either of them could take a step though, I noticed something on the ground. Lifting my hand, I sent the object to my palm, startling Dean as I did. " _'_ _To Frank. Love, Jessie_.'" I looked to the brothers. "It's Frank O'Brien's ring."

Dean frowned, moving over to check it out. "What the hell was Frank doing here?"

I shrugged, pocketing the ring. "No idea."

Continuing, we walked into a room full of lockers. We could hear rustling coming from further into the room. Following the noise, we stopped by one locker in particular. Sam reached forward without hesitation, and opened the locker.

A cat jumped out, causing Dean to scream louder than I'd heard anyone scream before.

"Oh, poor baby." I stepped up to the locker, grabbing the cat. "Hi there." I smiled, scratching under its chin. "You didn't mean to scare the big baby, huh?" Looking over at Dean, I gave a cheeky smile.

He looked from me, to Sam, seeing the amused looks on our faces. "What? It scared me."

Shaking my head, I started to walk out of the room, still holding the cat- who was purring, and cuddling into me. Sam followed close behind, with Dean catching up after him. As we walked into the next room, we each moved in opposite directions to look around.

Petting the cat's head, I wandered around, not really finding anything off use. The place was a mess, abandoned, dusty and dirty. _The sheriff would have a fit if he had to come here._ I chuckled to myself.

"Luther Garland," Sam read from an I.D. card he'd picked up from the desk he was looking over.

"Hey, this is uh...this is Frank's wife," Dean noted, pointing to a drawing on the desk he stood at.

Moving over to his brother, Sam took a look. "Plot thickens."

"Yeah, but into what?" Dean asked, grabbing the picture, tearing it from where it had been stuck to the desk.

The moment the picture had been ripped off, all the machines turned on

"Well... that can't be good," I noted, putting the cat down on the ground as I grabbed my gun from the back of my pants, getting ready for whatever might pop up.

Looking over at the brothers, I spotted Sam turning just in time to see his brother run out of there faster than I'd ever seen Dean run. Both Sam and I looked over at whatever had Dean dash off, finding ourselves looking at a large, scary looking guy in the corner, dressed in a janitor uniform and not looking happy at finding us here.

The thing started towards Sam, who raised his gun the same time I did, the two of us shooting the ghost before he could reach Sam.

Once the ghost was gone, Sam and I hurried after Dean to make sure he was okay. We found him hiding behind the Impala, taking another drink from his whiskey. He was shaking in fear, like a terrified child.

Sam looked down at his brother, showing us the I.D. card he'd grabbed from inside the mill. "Guess we got the right place."

**Bamby**


	10. Scared to Death

**SPOV**

Lizzie and I stood by the deputy's desk in the Sheriff's station. We'd left Dean in the car outside. He'd been drinking more, and Lizzie had noted that bringing a drunk 'FBI agent' into the station wasn't the best idea.

"This is the Garland file." Deputy Linus offered us the file he'd grabbed for us.

Lizzie took it from him. "Thanks." She gave it a quick read as I looked over her shoulder to glance at it as well.

"Deputy, according to this," I gestured to the file, "Luther Garland's cause of death was physical trauma. What does that mean?"

Deputy Linus shrugged. "The guy died twenty years ago, before my time. Sorry."

"Then can we talk to the sheriff?" I asked.

Looking behind him, the deputy took a moment before shaking his head. "Um, he's out sick today."

"Well, if you see him, will you have him call us? We're staying at the Bluebird," I informed him.

Lizzie closed the file. "Do you mind if we take this?" she asked, earning a shake of the head from Linus. "Thanks." Giving him a quick smile she then turned to me, nodding.

The two of us left then, heading for the car. As we exited the building, both of us sighed at the sight of Dean in the back seat of the Impala, looking nervous as his eyes darted to everything that moved.

"I'm not exactly Dean's biggest fan right now, but I would _so_ prefer grumpy, over-protective Dean over scared-of-everything Dean," Lizzie noted as she pulled the car keys out of her pocket.

**EPOV**

I walked next to Dean, keeping an eye on him as we moved through Peaceful Pines, a retirement home. He had been getting worse and worse with each passing moment, and I was really starting to worry. The humour of it all was long gone now.

As we rounded the corner, Dean jumped and gasped, startled by an elderly woman that was going the opposite way of us.

"It's okay," I assured him as he looked away from her, leaning against the wall, trying to calm his breathing. "I'm not gonna let anything hurt you." Giving him a gentle smile, I tilted my head so he could see me.

His eyes darted around nervously. "This isn't gonna work."

"Sure it is." Resting my hand on his shoulder I turned him around and led us over to Sam where he waited by a door for us.

"Come on, these badges are fake," Dean argued. "What if we get busted? We could go to jail."

Reaching Sam, I turned to Dean again, resting my hands on his shoulders. "Okay, Dean, I need you to breath and relax for me. Okay?" Nodding, Dean took a breath. "Better?" Unfortunately, he shook his head no.

Sam sighed. "Just come on." He gestured for us to enter the room, slapping his brother's hands as Dean began to scratch. "Don't scratch."

Taking the lead, I tugged moved over to the elderly gentleman that sat by the window- he was the only other person in the room besides us. Putting on a charming and kind smile, I stepped up to him.

"Mr Garland?" When he looked up at me, I went on, "Hi, I'm Agent Whitford. These are my partners, Agent Tyler, and Agent Perry. We're with the FBI and were wondering if you could answer a few questions for us. They're about your brother Luther."

Watching the three of us suspiciously, he stretched his hand out. "Let me see some I.D."

"Certainly." Sam nodded as we all handed over our badges.

While Mr Garland looed them over, Dean began to shift nervously, causing the older man to look up at him. "Those are real, obviously," Dean chuckled. "I mean, who would pretend to be an FBI agent, huh? That's just nutty."

Believing us- surprisingly- Mr Garland handed the badges back. "What do you want to know?"

"Uh, well," as we all took a seat, Sam took the lead in the questioning, "according to this, your brother Luther died of physical trauma," he noted, which caused Mr Garland to scoff. "You don't agree?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, then, what would you call it?"

"Don't matter what an old man thinks."

"Mr Garland, everything matters. We're just looking for the truth." I gave him a gentle smile. "Please."

Watching me for a moment, Mr Garland thought about it before sighing. "Everybody was scared of Luther. They called him a monster. He was too big, too mean-looking. Just too different. Didn't matter he was the kindest man I ever knew. Didn't matter he'd never hurt no one. A lot of people failed Luther. I was one of them. I was a widower with three young 'uns. And I told myself there was nothing I could do."

"Mr Garland, um," Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out the drawing Dean had found earlier, "do you recognize this woman?"

Mr Garland took a look at the picture, seeming to recognise the woman in an instant. "It's Jessie O'Brien. Her man, Frank, killed Luther."

"How do you know that?" Sam asked, an unsure smile on his lips.

"Everybody knows. They just don't talk about it. Jessie was a receptionist at the mill. She was always real nice to Luther, and he had a crush on her. But Frank didn't like it. And when Jessie went missing, Frank was sure that Luther had done something to her. Turns out the old gal killed herself, but Frank didn't know that. They found Luther with a chain wrapped around his neck. He was dragged up and down the stretch outside that plant till he was past dead."

_Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. This is not good. Shit, this is really, really not good..._

"And O'Brien was never arrested?" Dean asked.

"I screamed to every cop in town. They didn't want to look into Frank. He was a pillar of the community. My brother was just the town freak."

"You must have hated Frank O'Brien," Sam noted.

But Mr Garland surprised us with his response. "I did for a long time, but life's too short for hate, son. And frank wasn't thinking straight. His wife had vanished, he was terrified. A damn shame he had to put Luther through the same, but...that's fear. It spreads and spreads."

...

As we exited the retirement home I looked up at the night sky. _We're running out of time..._

Dean took the lead, walking down the stairs and towards Baby, gesturing to the scratches on his arms. "Now we know what these are, road rash. And I'm guessing Luther swallowed some wood chips when he was being dragged down that road."

"Makes sense." Sam nodded as we all stopped by Baby's hood. "You're experiencing his death in slow motion."

"Yeah well, not slow enough, huh? Say we burn some bones and get me healthy."

I tensed, looking from Dean to Sam, the youngest Winchester and I sharing a look. "Uh... Dean... it's not gonna be that easy."

"No, no, it'll be that easy." Dean's wide terrified eyes looked to both of us. "Why wouldn't it be that easy?"

"Luther was road-hauled," Sam started. "His body was ripped to pieces. He was probably scattered all over that road. There's no way we're gonna find all the remains."

The hope in Dean's eyes faded with each word Sam said. "You're kidding me."

"Look, we'll just have to figure something else out," Sam offered.

"You know what? Screw this." Dean started walking away.

"What? Dean!" I called after him. "Dean, come on."

"No." shaking his head, he turned to me. "No, don't 'come on' me. I mean, what are we even doing?!"

"We're hunting a ghost," Sam answered as if it was that simple... which it really was.

"A ghost, exactly! Who does that?"

"Us," Sam and I responded at the same time.

"Us? Right. And that is exactly why our lives suck. I mean, come on, we hunt monsters! What the hell?! I mean, normal people, they see a monster, and they run. But not us, no, no, no, we- we search out things that want to kill us. Yeah? Huh? Or eat us! You know who does that? Crazy people! We, are insane! You know, and then there's the bad diner food and then the skeevy motel rooms and then the truck-stop waitress with the bizarre rash." His tone started to get more and more freaked as he started to pace. "I mean, who wants this life? Huh? Seriously?

"Do you two actually like being stuck in a car with me eight hours a day, every single day? I don't think so! I mean, I drive too fast. And I listen to the same five albums over and over and over again, a-and I sing along. I'm annoying, I know that. And you," he gestured to Sam, "you're gassy! You eat half a burrito, and you get toxic!" He looked to me. "And you, well... it's weird with you now, with the boyfriend, and the fire, and the everything." He shook his head. "I mean, you know what? You can forget it." Turning, he started to leave again.

"Whoa, Dean." Sam moved to follow his brother. "Where are you going?"

"Stay away from me Sam, okay? Cause I am done with it," Dean yelled over his shoulder before he paused and turned to us one last time. "I'm done with the monsters and- and- and the hellhounds and the ghost sickness and the damn apocalypse. I'm out. I'm done. Quit!"

Sam and I could do nothing as we watched him walk away.

"Well..." I sighed, "now what?"

**DPOV**

Walking down the road, I had been adjusting my tie when I heard the growls. The angry growls coming from behind me. When I'd turned, that when I saw it, the dog. The scary, fluffy, dog with the pink bow on its head.

That's when I'd ran.

I ran so fast I had seen the homeless man around the corner as he dug through the trash. I ended up almost crashing into him, but I'd luckily stumbled and moved out of the way first.

He turned to me confused, with a look on his face that clearly said he thought I was insane.

"Run!" I warned him, pointing to the dog. "It'll kill you!"

But instead of waiting to see if he would listen to my warning, I made a break for it, running again. Running so hard and fast, never looking back as I headed to the only safe place I knew- Sam and Liz.

...

The room door opened as Liz and Sam walked in, surprised and relieved to see me sitting on the bed.

"Oh, thank God." Liz let out a breath as she moved over to kneel in front of me. "We were worried sick."

"We looked everywhere for you, Dean. How the hell did you get here?" Sam asked as he moved to sit on the bed next to mine.

"Ran." I admitted, still a little puffed. "What do we do now? I got less than four hours on the clock. I'm gonna die."

"Yeah, you are." Sam nodded. "You're going back."

I frowned, confused. "Back?"

"Downstairs, Dean."

"To Hell," Liz added as she stood and took a step back.

"It's about damn time, too. Truth is," Sam turned to me, his eyes flashing yellow, "you've been a real pain in my ass."

My eyes went wide as my heart began to pound. I looked to Liz for help, only to see her grinning down at me, her eyes yellow as well.

"No!" I jumped to my feet, but before I could do anything, Liz nodded her head once, pushing me against the wall with her mind. Struggling, I watched the two of them move towards me. "You get out of them, you evil sons of a bitch!"

Sam laughed, stopping in front of me. "No one's possessing us, Dean. This is what we're going to become."

"This is what we _want_ to become." Liz grinned as she stood next to the demon that was my brother, she turned to look at him suggestively before reaching up to run a hand along his chest.

Looking down at her, Sam had the same heated look in his eyes before he turned to me once more. "There's nothing you can do about it." Suddenly he reached forward, grabbing my throat as he started to choke me.

I coughed a struggled, watching Sam and he squeezed the life out of me while Liz stood there with a look of amusement, like she wanted this. Like she wanted Sam to kill me. Never had I ever seen something so terrifying than these two now, with their yellow eyes boring into mine...

A hard slap to my face had my head jerk back suddenly.

"You back with us?" Liz asked.

Taking a deep breath, I looked over at her and Sam. They no longer had yellow eyes, the evil gleam gone from their gazes. They seemed completely normal…

_Did I just imagine all of that?_

Giving me a soft smile, Liz gently grabbed my arm. "Why don't we get you to bed, huh? Tuck you in? Get you all rugged up and safe in the blankets?"

I didn't resist or argue as she did exactly that, and I had no problem knowing that she had stayed up all night, watching me while Sam did some more research on the couch. At least then, every time I woke up from a nightmare, she was there, right next to me, offering soothing words as she stroked my hair.

**SPOV**

Lizzie and I sat on the hood of the Impala, waiting for Bobby. We'd left Dean back at the hotel with some food and the tv, hoping that in the short time he was alone, nothing too bad would happen. But as much as Lizzie had wanted to stay- and so did I- we both knew we had to leave him to fix him.

We were both really worried, but I was actually surprised at how worried Lizzie was. At first she'd laughed and found it all amusing, but last night? She'd sat next to Dean, on his bed, watching him. Not once had she left his side. She didn't nap, or rest, or anything. She was wide awake as she made sure nothing happened to him.

Getting off the hood, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her pills, popping one into her mouth. Taking a quick drink of her water, she closed her eyes and let the pill slide down her throat, trying to relax.

"He's gonna be fine," I assured her.

"Tell that to the three victims this thing has already killed," she mumbled.

I had just been about to say something in the hopes of it helping, but before I could Bobby pulled up, stopping his car on the dirt road, a few feet away from us.

"Howdy, Sam. Lizzie." He nodded, stepping out of his car and heading towards us.

"Hey, Bobby."

As he came over to us, Lizzie stepped forward to give him a hug. "Thanks for coming."

He rubbed her back. "Of course." As they pulled apart, he looked around. "Where's Dean?"

"Home sick," I answered.

"So, have his hallucinations started yet?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "A few hours ago."

"How we doing on time?" Bobby asked as we all moved to lean against the hood again, Lizzie in the middle.

"We saw the coroner about 8:00 a.m. Monday morning, so, uh," looking at my watch, I sighed, "just under two hours. What about you? You find anything?"

He'd brought a little blue book with him and handed it over to me now. "This uh, encyclopedia of spirits dates to the Edo period."

I opened the first page to give it a read, only to find it wasn't in English. "You can read Japanese?"

To prove a point- I guess- Bobby answered in Japanese, "Kimi ga umareru mae kara zutto dayo."

Lizzie gave a little grin as she looked to me, seeing the confused look on my face. "He said he's known how, since long before you were born."

I was impressed. "You can speak it too?"

"Just a bit." Shrugging, she added, "Learnt from the best." She gestured to Bobby over her shoulder with her thumb.

"Anyway," Bobby got back to business, "this book lists a kind of ghost that could be our guy. It uh, infects people with fear. It's called a _Buru Buru_."

"It say how to kill it?"

"Same as usual. Burn the remains."

"Wonderful. Uh," I sighed, raking a hand through my hair, "is there a Plan 'B'?"

"Well, the _Buru Buru_ is born of fear. Hell, it is fear. And the lore says we can kill it with fear."

"So we have to scare a ghost to death?" _He must be joking..._

Bobby shrugged at my question. "Pretty much."

Shaking my head, I looked out at the road, trying to think of what to do... "How the hell we gonna do that?"

**EPOV**

I looked down at my phone, reading my last message for the millionth time.

_I'm gonna come get you this afternoon_

_Missing you too much_

_Don't forget your medication_

_Love you xx_

_\- T_

I knew there was no way Sam and Dean- or even Bobby for that matter- were going to be happy, but there was no way I could say no to Tristian. I meant that literally by the way. There was just something about him, I found it hard to tell him no.

Closing the message, I dialed Dean number and lifted the phone to my ear, waiting for him to pick up.

" _Hey._ "

"Hey!" I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my lips. "How are you?"

" _Been better_." The nerves in his voice were thick and clear.

"Well, good news. You're gonna be fine. We have a plan."

" _What is it?_ "

"A plan..."

There was a moment before he spoke again, sounding just as unsure as I felt. " _Is it a good one?_ "

"It's a plan, Dean. Don't worry, about it, okay? You'll be fine." Before he could say anything else, I hung up and turned to Sam. "This has got to be the worst plan in the history of bad plans."

Bobby nodded, agreeing with me as he looked to Sam. "I know I said, 'scare the ghost to death', but this?"

"Hey, you got a better idea, I'm listening." Sam shrugged, but when no one came up with anything better, he gave me a short nod, and with that, we headed into the mill guns and chain in hand.

**DPOV**

As I sat on the couch in the hotel room, waiting, trying not to freak out even though ever fiber in my being was absolutely terrified, I focused on my breathing, on staying calm. I trusted Liz and Sam. I was sure they knew what they were doing. I had to believe they'd get me through this.

The sound of growling and howling caught my attention.

Heart beating fast, I looked around with wide eyes, waiting. They were coming from me, I knew it. Getting to the ground, I turned the chair around as I hid behind it, hoping they wouldn't see me.

The door began to rattle and shake as they pushed against it, trying to get in, trying to get me. Their angry, animal growls and snarls, I could practically feel their hot breaths on me. Every nerve remembered how it felt to be ripped apart by the teeth and claws.

Suddenly the door burst opened, breaking off the hinges.

But it wasn't Hellhounds that came in. It was the sheriff.

"Sheriff?" I stood, looking to him, confused. that was until I saw the gun in his hand... "What are you doing?"

"Why are you looking into Luther Garland's death?"

My eyes trailed up his arm, seeing blood and scratches just like we'd seen on the victims. "Hey, hey, you're- you're sick. You're sick. You're sick, all right? Just- just like me, okay?" I showed him my arm. "You got to relax."

Instead of doing as I said, he came closer, hitting me across the face, making me stumble back. "Frank O'Brien was my friend. So he made a mistake. So I didn't bust him. So what? And you're gonna bring me down over that?! No, sir." Lifting the gun, he aimed it at me.

I reacted quickly, knocking it out of his grasp.

We began to struggle and fight each other. I was just trying to stop him, but I could see the sheriff was ready to kill. To save his own ass. Whatever he was scared of, it was blinding him completely. All he saw was the fear...

Eventually, I managed to push him hard enough to get him to the ground. He didn't get up though... clutching at his chest, hyperventilating, he watched with terrified eyes as I stepped up to him.

"Get away from me!"

"Al, you got to calm down!" I warned him, seeing where this was about to go...

"Step back!" he managed to say before he had a heart attack and died, right in front of me...

**SPOV**

Lizzie and I walked around cautiously, my gun raised as she held the chain we needed for the plan. Luther hadn't appeared though yet, and I was starting to wonder if he was going to show up at all. We didn't have time to wait... Dean wouldn't last much longer.

" _Any luck?_ " Bobby asked over the walkie.

"I don't know what's wrong, Bobby," I told him as Lizzie and I entered the room where we'd seen Luther before. "Last time he came right at us. It's almost like he's, uh..." Looking to Lizzie, I could see she was thinking the same thing I was at that moment. "Like he's scared."

" _So now what?_ "

Putting my shotgun away, I moved over to the desk where Luther's drawings sat. "I guess we got to make him angry." Putting the walkie down, I then grabbed one of the drawings and tore it in half. "Hey, Luther!"

The machines turned on...

Lizzie stepped over to help, placing the chain on the desk as she began to rip the drawings as well. "Come on, Luther! Where are you?"

"Luther!" I called. "What are you waiting for?"

We felt him before we turned. Lizzie and I both knew he was there. The temperature had dropped, and we could just feel another presence.

Turning around, we came face to face with Luther... and he did not look happy.

**DPOV**

I sat at the end of Sam's bed. The blanket from my bed was lying over the sheriff's body, so I wouldn't have to look at it. But I didn't have the guts to leave the room. Which left me sitting here, scratching at my arm as I waited out my time...

" _You're going back._ " I heard Sam's voice echo around the room. " _It's about damn time too,_ " it laughed, followed by the sound of Hellhounds barking.

Looking down at my watch, shaking and scratching, I couldn't keep myself from checking the time over and over again, watching as each second passed by. Each second bringing me closer and closer to death.

Deep down, I knew it was going to happen. Liz and Sam had failed. I was going to die. I was going back to Hell. I knew it. The thumping of my heart told me. The line of sweat covering me. The shake in my hands. The empty feeling in my stomach telling me that something really, really bad was going to happen...

My attention was pulled to an object on the floor, sitting by my feet. Reaching down, I grabbed it, finding that it was a Bible. Hoping that it was a sign, I brought it to my lips and closed my eyes as I began to pray.

" _Hi, Dean._ "

My eyes shot open.

Slowly I looked to my right, seeing a little girl sitting next to me. But not just any little girl. The little girl Lilith had possessed that night I'd died. The night the Hellhounds had taken me to Hell.

Dressed in a sweet, pink dress, with flower clips in her hair, she simply sat there, smiling at me.

"Huh, no!" I looked away from her, hoping that if I couldn't see her, she'd disappear. "No!"

" _Yes! It's me, Lilith._ " Leaning over, she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. " _Oh, I missed you so much_ _!_ " She smiled up at me. " _It's time to go back now._ "

Sliding away from her, I got to my feet, refusing to look at her still as I moved away from the bed. "You- you are not real!"

" _What's the matter, Dean? Don't you remember all the fun you had down there?_ " she asked. I couldn't help but look at her then as memories of it all flashed in my mind. Memories of the blood and pain... " _You do remember,_ " she stated matter-of-factly as she got to her feet. " _Four_ _months is like_ _forty_ _years in hell. Like doggy years. And you remember every second._ "

A pain shot through my chest, causing me to hunch over and groan in pain as I clutched at my heart. "You are not real," I insisted through the pain, dropping to my knees.

Stepping closer to me, she grabbed my face, forcing me to look up at her. " _It doesn't matter._ " her eyes turned white, her voice changing, the tone more malicious and dark. " _You're still gonna die. You're still gonna burn._ "

As she let go of my face and stepped back, I continued to look up at her. "Why me? Why'd I get infected?"

" _Silly goose._ " She put her hands on her hips, grinning smugly at me. " _You know why, Dean. Listen to your heart._ "

"Wha...?"

" _Baboom_ _._ " She leaned closer, the word causing the pain in my chest to increase. " _Baboom_ _._ " She watched as I groaned and fell back. " _Baboom_ _._ " Breathing was suddenly impossible as my muscles tensed and ached, everything screaming in panic. " _Baboom_ _!_ "

**EPOV**

I flew across the room, crashing into the old lockers. Luther was big and strong... and faster than we'd anticipated. As much as we could have shot him, or I could have flung him around all day, we didn't have time to waste. We needed to _grab_ him. Unfortunately, that seemed impossible.

So far, we hadn't had the chance, seeing as he'd made good use of his strength and size, pushing us around like ragdolls. We were nothing to him. Not when he was so enraged at us.

Grabbing Sam, he threw him to the ground. Sam tried to scramble away, but Luther already had him. His hands wrapping around Sam's throat.

I took this chance to act, seeing him choking Sam, too busy to take notice of me. Looking to the desk, I spotted the chain sitting right where I'd left it. Without using my hand, I sent the chain soaring through the air and over to Luther, wrapping it around his neck.

His hands let go of Sam's throat as he tried to pull at the chain, but it was pointless. There was no escaping now.

"Bobby, punch it!" Sam yelled.

A second later, Luther was dragged out through the double doors as Bobby floored it, pulling the ghost along. I couldn't see what was happening, but I knew Luther would be long gone in a matter of moments.

Sure enough, the machines suddenly turned off. Luther was gone.

**DPOV**

I reached into the back of Baby, pulling out some beers. "So you guys road-hauled a ghost with a chain?" I asked Sam, Liz and Bobby as I turned to them, offering the drinks- which Bobby refused and the others took.

Sam nodded, opening his drink. "Iron chain etched with spell work."

Moving to lean on Baby, between Liz and Sam, I pictured what that would have looked like. "Hmm, that's a new one," I noted, taking a drink.

"It was what he was most afraid of." Sam shrugged. "It was pretty brutal, though."

"On the upside, I'm still alive, so uh, go team!"

"Go team!" Liz cheered, raising her drink.

Sam chuckled lightly. "Yeah. How you feeling, by the way?"

I shrugged. "Fine." It wasn't a lie. The sickness was gone. I was back to normal...

"You sure, Dean? 'Cause this line of work can get awful scary," Bobby teased.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "You want to go hunting? I'll hunt." Pushing off the car, I stood, ready to head out if that's what they wanted. "I'll kill anything."

Sam grinned. "Aw."

"He's adorable." Bobby chuckled, Liz and Sam joining. I just looked away, taking another drink. Sighing, Bobby started for his car. "I got to get out of here. You three drive safe."

"Actually." Liz quickly took another drink before handing me the bottle. Turning, she reached into the back seat of Baby and pulled out her bag. "You mind driving me into town? Tristan's gonna pick me up at the hotel."

Bobby paused a moment, looking from her, to Sam and me. I could see he was just as unsure as I was. None of us had met Tristan. We knew nothing about him. All we knew was that months ago, Liz insisted that she never wanted to be in a relationship. Yet look at her now...

"We'll see you later, Lizzie." Sam smiled. "Don't be gone too long."

"I'll miss you too much." She beamed, heading for Bobby's car.

Sighing, Bobby turned to follow her, knowing he couldn't keep her from this guy even if he wanted to. "Take care of yourselves," he called to Sam and me.

We watched as they drove off, leaving the two of us alone... again. These days it was weird for it to just be Sam and I. Liz was always around. She was family. She was part of the package. With her coming and going... it just didn't sit right...

"So uh... so, what did you see?" Sam asked, pulling me from my thoughts. "Near the end, I mean."

"Oh, besides a cop beating my ass?"

"Seriously."

I thought about it for a moment before turning to him again. His eyes flashed yellow for a moment, making me freeze. I knew it was just the light, but it made me think of all my fears... Everything that we were going through, and everything that was coming our way.

Looking away again, I cleared my throat, coming up with a ridiculous lie. "Howler monkeys. Whole roomful of them. Those things creep the hell out of me."

He sighed, nodding. "Right."

Turning to him, I shrugged, playing it cool. "No, just the usual stuff, Sammy. Nothing I can't handle."

**Bamby**


	11. Trick...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Angst. Violence. I think... I don't know... it's honestly a lucky dip with this one and I can't be fucked reading through it to see what might be happening. Too busy and tired.
> 
> Bamby

**SPOV**

Dean and I had found a case involving a man who had choked on razor blades that were hidden in Halloween candy. If that didn't scream 'weird' then I don't know what did. We were in the victim's kitchen as Dean searched for anything that might help us, while I questioned the wife.

"Now how many razor blades did they find?"

Mrs Wallace held back tears as she stared blankly ahead. "Two on the floor, one in his stomach and one was stuck in his throat." Her voice cracked as she looked up at me. "He swallowed four of them. How is that even possible?"

Before I could answer, Dean made a noise as he looked in the over and on the stove.

Mrs Wallace turned to him. "The candy was never in the oven."

Closing the oven door, Dean straightened up before responding. "We just have to be thorough, Mrs. Wallace."

"Did the police find any razors in the rest of the candy?" I asked, getting back on track.

She shook her head. "No, I mean, I don't think so. I just... I can't believe it. You hear urban legends about this stuff, but it actually happens?"

I let out a short sigh. "More than you might imagine."

Dean got to the ground in the corner behind Mrs Wallace- by the fridge. I couldn't see him until he stood again, turning to show me the hew bag he'd just found. Once he was sure I'd seen it, and that we knew what we were dealing with, he tucked it into his pocket.

"Mrs. Wallace, did Luke have any enemies?"

Mrs Wallace frowned at my question. "Enemies?"

"Anyone who might have held a grudge against him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Co-workers? Neighbors? Maybe a woman," I suggested.

Suddenly understanding what I was saying, she frowned, offended. "Are you suggesting an affair?"

"Is it possible?"

"No! No, Luke would never-"

"I'm very sorry. We just have to consider all possibilities." I could see how distressed she was. I understood how absurd the question must sound.

"If someone wanted to kill my husband, don't you think they'd find a better way than a razor in a piece of candy he _might_ eat?"

Instead of answering, I looked over at Dean. She may have a point, but with witches, none of that mattered. The rules changed.

**EPOV**

I watched as Dean pulled Baby up, parking in one of the spaces by the gas station. Pushing off the wall, I adjusted the strap of my bag that hung over my shoulder as I headed over to him, smile plastered on my face.

Looking out the window at me, he looked slightly offended. "Boyfriend didn't want to come say hi?"

"He's on a job," I told him matter-of-factly, throwing my things in the backseat before I climbed into the front, sitting next to him.

"And you left him to deal with it on his own? Chose Sam and me over him?" Grinning smugly, he pulled out of the lot and on to the road.

I'd received a call from Sam yesterday asking if I wanted to help them out on this case they'd found. We both knew they could handle it by themselves, but we both also knew that the brothers missed me and I missed them. After talking about it with Tristan, we agreed that me hunting with the Winchesters every now and then wouldn't hurt us, and that's how I ended up sitting here, next to Dean.

Seeing the smug look on Dean face made me want to push him down a peg or two. "Tristan doesn't need my help. He's perfectly capable of handling it himself."

I wasn't stupid. I knew Dean didn't like the idea of Tristan. He'd always been protective over me. The fact I was now in a relationship with a hunter he'd never met, and knew nothing of, probably set him on edge. Bobby too.

But I trusted Tristan, we cared about each other, and there was nothing keeping us from being together. No matter what Dean and Bobby thought. No matter what _anyone_ thought.

**SPOV**

I was sitting on the couch in the hotel room, going through some research, trying to figure out what we might be dealing with. When the door to the room opened, I looked up to see Lizzie and Dean walk in, the two of them snacking on candy.

I scoffed, looking mainly at Dean. "Really? After that guy choked down all those razor blades?"

Dean shrugged. "It's Halloween, man."

"Yeah, for us every day is Halloween," I noted.

Grinning widely, Lizzie dumped her bag by the table and hurried over to me. Jumping onto the couch, she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. "Mr Grumpy-pants, always spoiling the fun."

Chuckling lightly, I put an arm around her in half-hug as Dean came over to sit on the arm of the couch, gesturing to my laptop. "Anything interesting?"

Pulling away from Lizzie, I nodded. "Well, we're on a witch hunt, that's for sure, but this isn't your typical hex bag." Reaching over, I opened the hex bag I'd put on the coffee table, showing them the three items that sat inside. Picking up the dried flower, I elaborated, "Goldthread, an herb that's been extinct for two hundred years. And this," I put the flower down and grabbed the coin, "is Celtic, and I don't mean some new age knock-off. It looks like the real deal. Like six hundred years old real."

While I'd been talking, I hadn't noticed Dean pick up the last piece. He was looking it over, smelling it, curious. Little did he know...

"And um," I nodded to the small charred object he held, "that is the charred metacarpal bone of a newborn baby."

"Ugh." He quickly put it down, disgusted. "Gross."

I shrugged, lifting the bone to look it over. "Relax man, it's like, at least a hundred years old."

"Oh, right, like that makes it better? Witches, man, they're so friggin' skeevy." Shivering, Dean stood and moved over to sit on his bed.

"Skeevy or not, I've never dealt with this kind of stuff before." Lizzie grabbed the coin, fiddling with it. "It's gotta take a powerful witch to throw all this together."

"More juice than we've ever dealt with, that's for sure." I nodded, agreeing with her. I looked over at Dean. "What about you? Find anything on the victim?"

"This Luke Wallace?" Dean shook his head. "He was so vanilla that he made vanilla seem spicy. I can't find any reason why somebody would want this guy dead."

**DPOV**

Sam, Liz and I walked down the stairs and into the crime scene in the basement. Some teens had been having a party, and one of the girls had drowned in a tub of water while bobbing for apples. But that wasn't it. The water had also boiled her...

We came to a stop, scanning the room. That's when my eyes landed on a girl talking to one of the cops.

Liz and Sam moved to join the questioning, but I put a hand out to stop them. "I got this one."

Sam scoffed. "Two words. Jail bait."

"I would never-"

Before I could go on, Liz gave me a pointed look. I mean, I wouldn't do anything with the girl, obviously. But I could think about it. I would think about it. I _was_ thinking about it.

Liz knew me too well. I could tell she could practically see the thoughts going through my mind...

Shaking her head, she tapped Sam on the arm, the two of them walking off to go look around the scene for any signs of witches- like a hex bag, for instance. While they walked off, I moved over to the cop and girl.

"It's just so weird," she started, looking to the cop. "The water in the tub, it wasn't hot, I had just been in there myself."

"Your friend didn't happen to know a man named Luke Wallace?" As she and the cop turned to me, I showed them my badge. "Agent Seger, F.B.I."

Nodding, the cop left me with the girl so I could finish asking her some questions.

She looked at me, confused. "Um, who's Luke Wallace?"

"He died yesterday."

Movement behind her shoulder caught my attention as Liz bent over the couch, feeling around the cushions. I couldn't help but watch her. I didn't want to. I knew she had a boyfriend and that I should respect that. But I couldn't help how I felt about her. I was still attracted to her. _Very_ attracted.

"I don't know who that is." The girl shook her head, answering my question.

Before I could ask anything else, Liz pulled back from the couch, holding up a hex bag for a moment and then shoving it into the pocket of her pants suit. But it had been long enough to see. The witch had been here too.

**EPOV**

I was sitting at the table with Dean, my feet on the table as I flicked through an old lore book. He was on the computer, searching the web, while Sam sat on his bed reading a book as well. So far, we hadn't come up with anything that might help us.

"I'm telling you, both these vics are squeaky clean. There is no reason for a wicked bitch payback." Dean sighed, pulling away from the computer.

"Maybe 'cause it's not about that."

Looking over at his brother, Dean shrugged. "Wow, insightful," he noted sarcastically.

The two of us frowned at Sam as he came over to us, carrying the book his was reading. "Maybe this witch isn't working the grudge, maybe they're working a spell. Check this out." He started reading, "' _Three blood sacrifices over three days, the last before midnight on the final day of the final harvest_.'" He handed Dean the book. "Celtic Calendar, the final day of the final harvest is-"

"October thirty first," I finished for him.

Reading the book that was now laid out in front of him, Dean asked, "What exactly are the, uh, blood sacrifices for?"

"Uh, if I'm right, this witch is summoning a demon. And not just any demon. Samhain."

Dean looked up from the book and to his brother. "Am I supposed to be impressed?"

"The origin of Halloween comes from Samhain," I started. "The Celts believe that October thirty first was the one night of the year that the vail between the living and the dead was thinnest. It was Samhain's night. Masks were worn to hide from him. Sweets left out like sacrifices for him. Faces carved into pumpkins as a sort of worship tradition."

As I finished, I noticed Sam and Dean looking at me, impressed, confused, surprised... they were speechless, sitting there, Dean's jaw almost falling open.

"What?"

Shaking his head, Dean leaned back in his chair to turn to me a little more. "How do you know all of this?"

"Halloween is my favourite holiday." I shrugged, reaching over to grab one of the Twizzler's off the table.

"Anyway," Sam cleared his throat, "Samhain was exorcised centuries ago."

It took a moment before Dean turned back to his brother. "So even though Samhain took a trip downstairs, the tradition stuck."

Sam gave a short nod. "Exactly, only now instead of demons and blood orgies Halloween is all about kids, candy and costumes."

"Okay, so some witch wants to raise Samhain and take back the night?"

Rolling his eyes and sighing, Sam leaned back in the chair. "Dean, this is serious."

"I am serious," Dean insisted, but part of him was joking around. Part of him always was.

"We're talking heavyweight witchcraft. This ritual can only be performed every six hundred years," Sam noted.

"And the six-hundred-year marker rolls around…?"

Before Sam could answer Dean's question, I spoke up, "Let me guess... tomorrow night?"

Sam simply gave a short nod.

"Naturally." Shaking his head, Dean looked down at the book again, flipping to a new page. "Well it sure is a lot of death and destruction for one demon."

"That's because he likes company," Sam explained. "Once he's raised, Samhain can do some raising of his own."

"Raising what, exactly?" Dean and I asked at the same time- which earnt me a small smirk from the eldest Winchester.

"Dark, evil crap and lots of it, I mean, they follow him around like the friggin' Pied Piper."

"So, we're talking ghosts?" Dean asked.

"Yeah."

"Zombies?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Leprechauns?"

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother again. "Dean-"

"Those little dudes are scary. Small hands." Dean lifted his hand and gave it a little shake. I couldn't help but give a light laugh.

"Look, it just starts with ghosts and ghouls, this sucker keeps on going, by night's end we are talking every awful thing we have ever seen. Everything we fight, all in one place."

That wasn't good. All joking aside, that had to be the worst thing that could happen. We didn't have enough strength and power to deal with something like that. We didn't even know enough hunters that could help control something like that. It would be war, and chances are... we'd lose.

Dean looked from Sam and I, thinking the same thing I was thinking. "It's gonna be a slaughterhouse."

**DPOV**

I sat in the car with Liz. Sam was back at the hotel going through some research. There wasn't much else Liz and I could do there, so we decided to go stake out Mrs Wallace's house, waiting to see if anyone that might have been at the party last night would show up here. All while snacking on the candy that was meant for trick-or-treaters.

"So..." I popped another candy into my mouth. "How's the boyfriend?"

"Great." Liz smiled, shifting to get a little more comfortable.

"He working on a case?"

"Yep."

"What kind of case?"

"I don't ask for details, Dean."

See, that's something I didn't understand. Liz trusting the guy, yeah okay I got that. But the fact he could be anywhere, doing anything right now... I did not like that. He could be sleeping around, cheating on her. He could be slacking off, not hunting at all. He could be doing God knows what. The possibilities were endless, and I didn't like any of them.

The sound of my phone ringing got my attention. Reaching over I grabbed and answered it, seeing the ID flashing Sam's name.

"Hey."

" _How's it going?_ "

"Awesome, yeah. Liz and I talked with Mrs. Razor-Blade again." I looked out the window to the Wallace home. "We've been sitting out in front of her house for hours and got a big steamy pile of nothing."

" _Look Dean, someone planted those hex bags, someone with access to both houses. There's gotta be some connection._ "

"Yeah, well I hope we find 'em soon cause I'm starting to cramp like a-" I cut myself short as I saw someone walking down the street. "Son of a bitch." It was the girl from last night. Putting the phone down, I nudged Liz, gesturing across the street. "You seeing this?"

Liz looked over, spotting the girl in an instant. "Holy crap."

Sitting there, we watched as the girl walked to the front door of the Wallace home and knock. A moment later the door opened, Mrs Wallace standing there, smiling, holding her baby... which she handed to the girl.

_Son of a bitch..._

**SPOV**

I looked up at Dean and Lizzie as they entered the room, both clearly less than impressed. I was lying on my bed, on my laptop, having done some research on the girl from last night. Tracy.

"So, our apple-bobbing cheerleader?" I asked, wondering what they might have found out.

"Tracy?" Dean came over to sit on his bed while Lizzie moved to lie on the end of mine. "The Wallace's' babysitter," he explained. "Told me she never even heard of Luke Wallace."

"Huh, interesting look for a centuries-old witch."

"Yeah, well, if you were a six-hundred-year-old hag and you could pick any costume to come back in, wouldn't you go for a hot cheerleader? I would, hmm…" Dean thought about it, his mind clearly going off track.

Lizzie sat up on her elbows and looked over at him. "You done?"

He grinned at her. "You jealous?"

"I'm taken. Remember?" She gave him a pointed look.

I hadn't met Tristan but I knew he made Lizzie happy, and that's all I really cared about. When Dean was gone, it had really hurt her. She hadn't been able to deal with it properly. So, when she told me about this guy she was starting to see, and how he was helping her, I felt no need to step in.

"Don't see your boyfriend here." Dean's grin stayed in place.

Rolling her eyes, Lizzie sat up more. "Just because we're together doesn't mean we have to be with each other twenty-four seven."

"But you should want to."

"I do want to."

"Does he?"

Seeing Lizzie flinch at Dean's question, I quickly sat up, hoping to get the conversation back on track. "Well, Tracy's not as wholesome as she looks. Did some digging... apparently she got into a violent altercation with one of her teachers, got suspended from school."

**DPOV**

I walked into the high school art room, looking up at the masks that hung around the entrance. One in particular caught my attention. I couldn't tear my eyes away from its long mouth and dead eyes. I swear I could hear the echoing screams from hell surrounding me as the heavy weight of guilt and dread pressed on my chest and shoulder...

"Dean?" Liz's voice called to me as her hand rested on my shoulder.

Pulling my eyes from the mask, I looked down at the ground for a moment before turning to her. "Yeah... uh, yeah?"

"You okay?" she asked, looking up at me with genuine worry as if she'd caught me staring at the mask. As if she could read my mind and know what I was feeling.

As I searched her eyes, and she searched mine, I found myself stuck staring again. But this was for different reasons. The mask made me feel scared, guilty, so many horrible things that I'd never wish on anyone. Not even my enemies.

But Liz? She made me feel safe, welcome, needed, cared for. The way she looked up at me sometimes, it was like I actually mattered. As if me being in her life made it difference- in a good way. Just like her being in Sam's and my life made everything so much better.

"Bring back memories?"

The two of us jumped and turned to see Sam heading over to us, looking at the masks as well.

Clearing my throat, I stepped away from Liz slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Being a teenager, all that angst."

I let out a relieved sigh, thankful that he hadn't seen through me... not that he could, or would have any reason to think something was up.

Frowning slightly, he turned to me a little more. "What'd you think I meant?"

"Nothing," I answered quickly as I began to look around the room, seeing some kids working away. One in particular was putting a big bong-shaped piece into a kiln. "Now that brings back memories." I chuckled to myself.

"You three wanna talk to me?" a man asked as he walked into the room, with some papers in his hands and a coffee mug balanced on top of the decent sized box he held.

"Ah, Mr Harding." Sam nodded.

The guy scoffed lightly. "Oh, please, Don," he insisted, reaching for Sam's hand, which he shook. "Even my students call me Don," he informed us as he reached for my hand next.

"Yeah, we get it, Don," I mumbled to him as he shook Liz's hand before moving to his desk. Pulling out our badges as we followed, I introduced us, "I'm agent Getty, this is Agents Lee and Young. We just had a few questions about, uh, Tracy Davis."

Having put everything down on the desk, Don turned his full attention to the three of us. "Uh, yeah, Tracy, uh, bright kid, loads of talent. It's a shame she got suspended."

"Uh, you two had a… uh, violent altercation," I noted.

"Yeah, she exploded. If Principal Murrow hadn't walked by when he did, Tracy would have clawed my eyes out."

Sam frowned. "Why?"

"I, uh, you know, I was only trying to rap with her about her work. It had gotten inappropriate and disturbing."

I turned, gesturing to the mask I'd been looking at before. "More disturbing, than, uh, those guys?"

"She would cover page after page with these bizarre cryptic symbols, and then there were the drawings," Don explained. "Detailed images of killings, gory, primitive, and she would depict herself in the middle of them, participating."

"Symbols, what kind of symbols? Uh, anything like this?" Sam pulled a coin out of his pocket, the one that had been in one of the hex bags we'd found.

Don took a quick look before nodding. "Yeah, yeah, I think that might have been one of them."

"You know where Tracy is now?" I asked.

"I would imagine her apartment." He shrugged.

"Her apartment?" Liz and I asked at the same time, both confused. I couldn't help but grin slightly at the fact we'd- once again- said the same thing at the same time like that.

"Yeah," Done started, hands now in his pockets, "she got here about a year ago, alone, as I understood it, as an emancipated teen. God only knows what her parents were like."

**EPOV**

Dean pulled up at the hotel, getting out of Baby as Sam and I headed over to him. The three of us had split up in the hopes of finding Tracy. We all knew the urgency of the matter. Today was Halloween. Today was the day she'd be trying to raise Samhain. Our time was running out, and there were thousands, millions, _billions_ , of lived on the line.

"So?" Dean asked us, closing his door.

I sighed. "Mrs Wallace said Tracy won't be back until next week."

Sam shook his head. "Tracy was nowhere I could find. Any luck with her friends?"

"Nah, luck is not our style. Her friends don't know where she is. It's like the bitch popped a broomstick," Dean noted as the three of us started for the hotel room, a kid dressed as an astronaut headed out way.

"She could be making the third sacrifice any time."

Dean shot his brother an annoyed glare. "Yes, thank you Sam."

The kid suddenly came to a stop then, in front of us, lifting his bucket of candy. "Trick or treat."

Dean looked down at him. "This is a motel."

"So?"

"So, we don't have any candy."

Sam looked confused, turning to gesture to Baby. "No, we have a ton in the-"

Dean cut him off, "We did, but it's gone."

The two shared a look as I tried not to laugh. I'd warned Dean not to eat all the candy. I'd told him to go buy more. I told him something like this would happen. He didn't listen, of course. He insisted that no kid would come up and ask us. That it had never happened before. Yet here we were, just like I'd said we would be.

Turning back to the kid, Dean shrugged. "Sorry kid, we can't help ya."

"I want candy."

"Well, I think you've had enough," Dean told him, earning an elbow to the rip from me and a glare form the kid.

Sam walked to the room as Dean and I stood there looking down at the kid glare daggers at Dean, clearly pissed. It took a moment before he walked off, without another word. We turned and watched him go, moving to the door of the next room.

"I don't want to hear, 'I told you so'," Dean warned without looking to me.

A grin played on the corner of my lips as I stayed quiet. There was no need for me to say anything when he knew I was right and he was wrong that's all that mattered.

"Who are you?!" Sam yelled from inside our hotel room.

Dean and I turned in and instant, rushing for the room. We found Sam standing there, gun raised, aimed to the back of Castiel's head as he sat on Dean's bed, facing the window where another man stood- a man I gathered was another angel.

"Sam!" Dean hurried to stop his brother from shooting Castiel. "Sam, wait! It's Castiel. The angel." Looking over at the other guy he added, "Him, I don't know."

Sam was stunned, looking at Castiel who stood and came to stand in front of him. "Hello, Sam."

"Oh my God-" The stunned look on his face turned to shame and guilt as he realised what he'd just said. "Er… uh… I didn't mean to- sorry. It's an honour, really, I- I've heard a lot about you." Stepping forward, smiling widely, he offered Castiel his hand to shake.

Castiel looked down at the hand for a moment, as if unsure what to do with it, before he reached forward and took it. "And I, you. Sam Winchester. The boy with the demon blood." Both Sam and I flinched at that. "Glad to see you've ceased your extracurricular activities."

"Let's keep it that way," the guy at the window muttered.

"Yeah, okay, chuckles." Dean rolled his eyes, looking to Castiel. "Who's your friend?"

Instead of answering the question, Castiel asked his own. "This the raising of Samhain, have you stopped it?"

"Why?"

"Dean, have you located the witch?"

"Yes, we've located the witch."

"And is the witch dead?"

"No, but-"

Dean finished Sam's sentence, "We know who it is."

I was hanging back, by the door. I always got the impression Castiel didn't think much of me. I mean, Sam and I were both using our power, but he only cared about Sam. He never mentioned the fact I had demon blood in me. In fact, he didn't do much when it came to me. It was like if I wasn't there, it wouldn't matter.

Walking over to the bedside table between the beds, Castiel lifted something from it. "Apparently the witch knows who you are too." He showed us the hex bag. "This was inside the wall of your room. If we hadn't found it, surely one or all of you would be dead. Do you know where the witch is now?"

After a moment where Dean, Sam and I shared a look, Dean turned back to the angel. "We're working on it," he assured him.

Castiel sighed. "That's unfortunate."

"What do you care?"

"The raising of Samhain is one of the 66 seals."

"So, this is about your buddy Lucifer."

"Lucifer is no friend of ours." The guy at the window sounded genuinely offended.

"It's just an expression," Dean explained.

"Lucifer cannot rise," Castiel noted. "The breaking of the seal must be prevented at all costs."

"Okay, great, well now that you're here, why don't you tell us where the witch is, we'll gank her and everybody goes home."

"We are not omniscient. This witch is very powerful, she's cloaked even our methods."

"Okay, well we already know who she is, so if we work together-" Sam started to suggest, only to be cut short by the guy at the window.

"Enough of this."

The fact this guy wasn't offering any real help, and was annoying the hell out of us, pissed Dean off. "Okay, who are you and why should I care?" he snapped, causing the guy to turn and look to us.

"This is Uriel," Castiel answered for him. "He's what you might call a… specialist."

Watching as Uriel walked over to us, Dean frowned, curious and suspicious. "What kind of specialist? What are you gonna do?"

Once again, Castiel avoided the question. "You, all of you, you need to leave this town immediately."

"Why?" Dean asked. I could tell by the look on Sam's face that he was thinking the same thing, and so was I. It didn't sound too good...

"Because we're about to destroy it," Castiel answered so simply, it was like a slap to the face.

**Bamby**


	12. Or Treat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Angst. Violence.
> 
> Bamby

**EPOV**

"Excuse me?" I spoke up for the first time, looking to each angel. "So, what? Just because of this seal, this thing you might not be able to deal with in time... you decided to kill off everyone in the town?"

"We're out of time. This witch has to die, the seal must be saved," Castiel told us simply, as if that justified their plan, justified everything they've ever done.

"There are a thousand people here," Sam argued.

"One thousand, two hundred, fourteen," Uriel corrected, but the number seemed to have no effect on him what so ever.

Looking over at him, Sam frowned, confused- and if I wasn't mistaken... disappointed. "And you're willing to kill them all?"

"This isn't the first time I've… purified a city," Uriel told him matter-of-factly.

"Look, I understand this is regrettable," Castiel started, only to be cut off sharply by Dean.

"Regrettable?"

"We have to hold the line. Too many seals have broken already."

"So, you screw the pooch on some seals and this town has to pay the price?"

"It's the lives of one thousand against the lives of _six billion_ ," Castiel countered, not seeing how this might upset us. "There's a bigger picture here."

Dean shook his head, looking to both angels. "Right, cause you're 'bigger picture' kind of guys."

Castiel took a step closer to Dean, a sense of power radiating off him as he spoke. "Lucifer cannot rise. He does and hell rises with him. Is that something that you're willing to risk?"

The thing is, it didn't matter what Castiel, Uriel or any angel did or said. Sam, Dean and I... We cared about _everyone._ Including the one thousand two hundred and fourteen people in this town at this very moment. Their lives were worth just as much as anyone else's.

"We'll stop this witch before she summons anyone. Your seal won't be broken and no one has to die," Sam assured them, trying to convince them that their plan was not the only way to go.

Patience running on long, Uriel turned to Castiel. "We're wasting time with these mud monkeys."

"I'm sorry, but we have our orders," Castiel noted... though I couldn't help but noticed the fact that he'd directed the words to Uriel, and not to us...

Sam shook his head, still adamant about saving the town and its people. "No, you can't do this, you're angels, I mean aren't you supposed to- You're supposed to show mercy."

Uriel scoffed. "Says who?"

"We have no choice," Castiel added. It occurred to me then that he might not _want_ to do this, he just _had_ to. It was his job to do what he was told and not ask questions. He was a solider, not a saviour.

"Of course you have a choice." Dean didn't seem to see what I could. He just saw two emotionless angels who didn't care what happened to any of us humans. "I mean, come on, what? You've never questioned a crap order, huh? What are you both, just a couple of hammers?"

"Look, even if you can't understand it, have faith. The plan is just."

"How can you even say that?" Sam asked him.

"Because it comes from heaven, that makes it just."

"Oh, it must be nice, to be so sure of yourselves." The look Dean gave Castiel as he spoke, it was on the edge of pure hate and anger. He did not like the angels.

Stepping up at Dean once more, Castiel surprised me with what he said next, "Tell me something, Dean, when your father gave you an order, didn't you obey?"

It took a moment before Dean answered. He stood there, looking at Castiel, trying not to react as he thought it all over. When he finally did speak, there was no changing his mind, "Well sorry boys, looks like the plans have changed."

"You think you can stop us?" Uriel looked both amused and annoyed. As if we were children trying to do things on our own, but messing everything up as we went along.

Dean turned to the other angel, standing his ground. "No." He stepped over to Uriel. "But if you're gonna smite this whole town, then you're gonna have to smite us with it, because we are not leaving. See, you went to the trouble of busting me out of hell. I figure I'm worth something to the man upstairs. So you wanna waste me, go ahead, see how he digs that."

"I will drag you out of here myself," Uriel warned.

"Yeah, but you'll have to kill me, then we're back to the same problem. I mean, come on, you're gonna wipe out a whole town for one little witch. Sounds to me like you're compensating for something." Dean turned back to Castiel. "We can do this. We will find that witch and we will stop the summoning."

Standing there, looking at Dean, Castiel thought it over. That in itself was a big feat

"Castiel! I will not let these-"

Before Uriel could finish, Castiel raised his hand to cut him off. "Enough!" he ordered, stilling looking to Dean. "I suggest you move quickly," was all he had to say.

...

As we left the hotel room- both Uriel and Castiel now gone- Sam, Dean and I walked over to Baby... the hood now covered in smashed eggs.

I shook my head, stepping up to the hood. "You've got to be kidding me."

Sam didn't even stop, simply moved to the passenger seat and got in. But Dean? He was clearly pissed, and I had a feeling the angels weren't helping the situation. The fact it was his baby that had been hit was the worst of it. He loved this car more than anything, it was practically the brothers' home.

Looking around for the culprit, Dean yelled, "Astronaut!"

Sighing, I walked over to rest a hand on his arm in the hopes of calming him a little. "Come on. We don't have much time left, and we need to find this witch."

Taking a deep breath, he gave a short nod and followed me as we got into the car- him in the front and me in the middle of the back seat. Once we were in, he turned to Sam who was looking down at the hex bag that had been meant for us. I couldn't help but noticed the fact the younger Winchester seemed a little upset.

"What?" Dean asked him.

Sam shook his head. "Nothing." He took a breath, smiling lightly even though we all knew he wasn't amused. "I thought they'd be different."

Dean looked at him confused. "Who, the angels?"

"Yeah," Sam answered simply.

It had been the first time Sam had met the angels, but Dean and I had encountered Castiel on more than one occasion now. Each time I met the angel he was as emotionless and robot like as every other time. There was nothing there. Like he was a perfectly made machine that did as it was told and felt nothing. All he saw was the mission. All he thought about was how to please the people- or beings- above him. There was nothing there. Just a soldier ready to be put to work.

I can understand why Sam might be disappointed. I remembered the case we were on a few years back, when we thought we were dealing with an angel when it had really been the spirit of a priest who had been killed and was trying the write the wrongs of his community. Sam had confessed that he prayed, and that he wanted to believe. That he _did_ believe.

As some stage, I had too. Growing up, after my father had died, my mum had turned to religion. She'd practically dived head first into it. Church and prayers were cemented into my upbringing, and there was honestly nothing wrong with that. It didn't do me any harm.

But at some point in my life, I think I just gave up. In believing in the good. Now that I'd met some angels, I didn't regret my decision. Sure, they might be real. But were they good?

"Well, I tried to tell ya," Dean noted. He had tried to tell Sam. But his brother had been hopeful that he was wrong.

"I just..." shaking his head, Sam looked down at the hex bag in his hand, "I mean, I thought they'd be righteous."

"Well," Dean shrugged, "they are righteous. I mean, that's kinda the problem." When Sam looked to him, he explained what he meant, "Of course there's nothing more dangerous than some a-hole who thinks he's on a holy mission."

"But, I mean, this is God? And Heaven? This is what I've been praying to?" Sam sounded utterly disappointed.

"Look man, I know you're into the whole God thing, you know, Jesus on a tortilla and stuff like that. But just because there's a couple of bad apples doesn't mean the whole barrel's rotten. I mean, for all we know, God hates these jerks. Don't give up on this stuff, is all I'm saying. Babe Ruth was a dick but baseball's still a beautiful game."

I reached over and gave Dean a pat on the shoulder. "Such beautiful words."

Dean rolled his eyes, starting the ignition. "Shut up," he mumbled.

Sam chuckled lightly, looking back down at the hex bag to open it up and fiddle with the bone that had sat inside it and was now between his two fingers.

Putting the car in reverse, Dean turned to his brother for a moment. "Well, are you gonna figure out a way to find this witch, or are you just gonna sit there fingering your bone?"

"You know how much heat it would take to char a bone like this, Dean?"

"No."

Something in me clicked at Sam's question. It was like I'd just figured something out, but I just didn't know what that was exactly.

Frowning, I leaned closer to grab the bone from Sam to get a better look. "No oven could do this. The heat would have to be extreme."

"Exactly." Sam nodded.

Dean looked between the two of us. "Okay, Betty Crocker one and two, so what does that mean?"

Sam grabbed the bone from me again as he turned to his brother once more. "It means we make a stop."

**DPOV**

Back at the high school and in the art room, I walked over to one of the kilns while Liz and Sam headed over to Don's desk. The two seemed to have an idea of what the hell was going on, while I was still wondering why we were here exactly.

"So, Tracy used the kiln to char the bone, what's the big deal?" I asked, looking inside the kiln before moving over to join them at the desk.

The two of them while rifling through the desk drawers, but it was Sam who answered. "Dean, that hex bag turned up in our room, not after we talked to Tracy-"

I cut him off, nodding now that I understood. "After we talked to the teacher."

"Hey." Sam gestured to a locked drawer.

"I got it." Liz only had to look at the lock before it unlocked.

_She's getting stronger..._

Opening the drawer, Sam paused the moment we all looked down at the bowl of bones sitting there. One of them were charred while the others weren't, but they were all small. Just like the ones from the hex bags.

"My God." Sam stood up. "Those are all from children."

I sighed, looking down at them. "And I'm guessing he's not saving them for the dog."

**EPOV**

Dean, Sam and I lifted our guns and shot at Don right before he had the chance to stab Tracy. We'd found the two in Don's basement. He was chanting an incantation while Tracy struggled against the binds around the wrist as they kept her on her feet and unable to escape. The gag on her mouth had stopped her from calling out for help. Luckily, we'd made it in time to keep Don from finishing the ritual, and killing her.

 _I guess we were wrong... Tracy isn't the witch_. I thought as I put my gun away.

Dean- his gun now away as well- moved to cut the rope tied around her wrists, setting her free. Sam checked Don to make sure he really was dead, while I moved over to take a look at the ritual table. I didn't touch anything- I wasn't sure what it might do- I simple looked.

Tracy ripped the gag off. "Thank you, he was gonna kill me! Ugh, that sick son of a bitch." She looked down at Don. "I mean, did you see what he was doing? Did you hear him? How sloppy his incantation was?" I froze, turning to her. "My brother-"

Dean, Sam and I all reacted at once. The brothers moving for their guns while I went to throw Tracy across the room.

Unfortunately, she was powerful. With a few quick witchy words and a wave of her hand, she had the brothers flying back and hitting the ground hard. This was all done in the mere seconds it took before I had her shoved to the ground as well.

Looking up at me, stunned, a small smirk played on her lips as she pulled herself back to her feet. "Well, look what we have here."

She must have seen that I was about to do something else to her, because before I could actually do it, I found myself been thrown to the floor by the brothers, face down, the strength of the hold keeping me there almost enough to crush my spine.

The brother's struggled and groaned, both of them watching me with worried and protective eyes.

**DPOV**

Sam and I couldn't move. Well, we could _barely_ move. We could wriggle and struggle, but that was it. But we both wanted to move. Not only to kill this witch, but to help Liz. I knew she still had a lot of fight in her, but with the hold Tracy had on her... there was nothing Liz could do at this stage. She was as helpless and stuck as both Sam and I.

"Silly girl." Tracy shook her head, looking down at Liz as if she was simply annoying. Sighing, she turned to Don. "Now, you." She glared at his body. "He was gonna make me the final sacrifice," she told us. "His idea. But now, that honour goes to him. Our master's return? The spell-work's a two-man job you understand, so for six hundred years I had to deal with that pompous son of a bitch.

"Planning, preparing, unbearable." She knelt down, grabbing the chalice and knife he'd dropped, while Sam and I continued to groan in pain as she held up down. "The whole time I wanted to rip his face off." Digging into the bullet wound in Don's chest so the blood would pour into the chalice, she chuckled lightly. "And you get him with a gun, uh, love that." Standing, she moved over to the altar table. "You know, back in the day, this was the one day you kept your children inside. Well tonight you'll all see what Halloween really is."

She began to chant something in what I guessed was Latin, but my attention wasn't on her. Instead I watched as Sam fought against her hold enough so that he could reach his hand over to the blood pooling under Don, and then wipe the blood on his face.

"What are you doing?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"Just follow my lead," Sam muttered as he reached over to Liz and spread the blood on her face- seeing that the hold on her was stronger and she couldn't reach the blood.

Taking a deep breath, I did as Sam suggested and reached for the blood as well, rubbing it on my face so it was covered just like his and Liz's.

Just then, Tracy finished the incantation.

The ground began to shake and crack as thick black smoke emerged for the damaged concrete. It flew into the air and then dived into Don's mouth as if knowing exactly where it belonged.

As Don- who I guess was now Samhain- rose, I noticed that Sam and Liz had closed their eyes as if they were playing dead. Once again, I followed Sam's lead, hoping that this plan of his was actually gone to keep us alive.

There was a moment before Tracy spoke. "My love."

"You've aged." Don's voice had changed slightly, now that Samhain had taken over his body. It was deeper. Darker.

"This face… I can't fool you."

"Your beauty is beyond time." Once again, there was a silence before I heard the indistinctive sound of something snapping and then a body dropping to the floor. In that instant, the hold on me broke. Samhain had just killed Tracy. "Whore."

Listening, I waited into I heard him go up the stairs and close the door behind him before I opened my eyes to check that he really was gone. Once I was sure he was gone, and wouldn't be back, I reached over to check Liz.

"You okay?" I asked her as I helped sit her up.

Groaning, she rubbed at her head which had hit the ground pretty hard. "Fine."

Looking over at Sam as he moved to sit as well, I asked, "What the hell was that?"

"Halloween lore. People used to wear masks to hide from him." He shrugged. "So I gave it a shot."

"You gave it a shot?!"

**EPOV**

Dean was being his usual over protective self as we walked to Baby. He was right beside me, a gentle hand on my back as if he thought I was going to fall unconscious right then and there. Sure, I'd hit the ground a lot harder than then, and sure Tracy's hold on my had been stronger than her hold on them. But I was fine...

Just in case, I pulled out my pills and took two, hoping they would help.

"Where the hell are we gonna find this mook?" Dean asked Sam as his hand that wasn't pressed to my back used a rug to clean the blood off his face.

Sam had a rag of his own to clean the blood of his face as he responded. "Where would you go to raise other dark forces of the night?"

"The cemetery," Dean answered as we reached the car. He opened the door for me and made sure I was in before he got into his own seat and started the engine, driving down the street as fast as he could while still being safe so he wouldn't hit any trick-or-treaters.

**SPOV**

"So, this demon's pretty powerful," I noted as Dean continued down the road and towards the cemetery.

He gave a short now. "Yeah."

"Might take more than the usual weapons." I glanced over at him, wondering if he understood what I was hinting at... he did.

"Sam, no, you're not using your psychic whatever. Don't even think about it. Ruby's knife is enough."

"Why?"

"Well because the angels said so for one-"

I cut him off, "I thought you said they were a bunch of fanatics."

"Well they happen to be right about this one," he argued, sounding like a complete hypocrite.

"Dean," Lizzie sighed from the back seat. "Sam may have a point. If things get bad... we might need-"

"No," Dean cut her off sharply as he turned to me. "You said yourself, these powers, it's like playing with fire." Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out the demon knife. "Please."

Without a word, I took the knife, knowing there was no way I could change his mind.

**DPOV**

We heard the screams and what sounded like a metal door rattling, before we'd even entered the crypt. Rushing down the stairs, we found a bunch of teenaged kids dressed up for Halloween, completely freaked and locked on the other side of some locked metal doors.

As we reached the bottom stair, Sam turned to me. "Help them."

I could see it in his eyes, he was going to go find Samhain. "Dude, you're not going off alone."

But there was nothing I could do to stop him. "Do it!" he yelled before he ran off.

I watched him for a moment until Liz pulled my attention back to the kids as they continued to freak out.

"Dean! Come on!"

Hating the fact that my brother was on his own, dealing with one of the strongest demons we'd ever come across, I took a deep breath and turned my attention to the task at hand knowing it was the right thing to do.

"Stand back!" I warned, pulling out my gun. "Stand back!" The kids did as I said, allowing me to shoot at the locks.

The moment the doors flung open, Liz ushered the kids out, making sure they got to safety as I entered the space they were in, seeing the graves in the walls shake as the fronts of them dropped off, opening them.

Liz rushed back in, only to come to a halt as a zombie crawled out of one of the graves. Suddenly a grave on the other side of the room cracked and crumbled, opening up for another zombie to crawl out.

"Dean..."

Dropping my bag on the ground, I looked over at my shoulder to Liz for the briefest moment. "Back to back."

Nodding, she came over to stand behind me, reaching into my bag to pull out two silver stakes quickly. Once she handed one to me, we both turned to a wall each, getting ready as a few more zombies crawled out.

I tightened my grip on the stake. "Bring it on, stinky."

**SPOV**

I was deeper in the crypt now, looking for Samhain. I was sure Dean and Lizzie had everything sorted back there. I knew they didn't need me right now, not when there were more pressing things to deal with. Like the demon bring Hell to this town.

Walking down the corridor a little more, I found him tucked away in a room, facing the far wall. I tried sneaking up to him, but he suddenly turned around, lifting his hand to shoot me with the same bright white light Lilith tried on Lizzie and I.

Now in the room, I came to a stop. "Yeah, that demon ray gun stuff? It doesn't work on me."

Pissed, Samhain ran towards me. Before he could do anything, I managed to get the upper hand by making the first move by punching his right in the face. That's all it took before a fight broke out, the two of us throwing hits at each other... until he managed to push me to the wall and wrap his hand around my throat.

**EPOV**

Dean and I had managed to take down a few zombies now. But right when we thought we could take a breather, a ghost showed up... and boy was she strong. She'd managed to throw both of us across the room before we'd barely had a chance to register her presence. Then, she was gone again.

"Zombie-ghost orgy huh? Well, that's it, I'm torching everybody," Dean muttered as he got to his feet.

But see, the fact ghosts were showing up now told me one thing. Samhain was still alive. That was not good. That meant Sam hadn't dealt with him yet. It wasn't that I didn't have faith in him, but I was beginning to worry.

"You take care of these guys. I'm gonna go help Sam." Without giving Dean the chance to argue or stop me, I rushed out of the room.

**SPOV**

I'd managed to pull the demon knife out of my jacket. As I went to stab him though, Samhain blocked me with his arm. The blade was pretty close to touching his skin, which then glowed as if sensing the danger.

Snarling, Samhain shoved at my arm roughly, in order to knock the weapon from my grasp. I was now helpless.

There was still some hope, but the chances of me getting out of this on my own, without my powers... with those chances were pretty much non-existent now. I knew Dean and the angels didn't want me to use them, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and seeing as there was no other way for me to get out of this...

"Sam!"

Lizzie caught both Samhain and I off guard as she lifted her hand and tossed him away from me.

I fell back to my feet, taking a deep breath, taking a small moment to recover as Lizzie came to stand beside me. The second I stood straight again and saw Samhain standing in the corner a few feet from us, ready to attack, I knew what I had to do. Not only to save the town, but to save myself and Lizzie.

Lifting my hand, I began to concentrate on him, on pulling the demon out of the body.

He resisted. He struggled and fought, and actually started to slowly and eventually move towards us, still desperately wanting to rip both Lizzie and I apart. Try as I might, I couldn't seem to hold him back and draw him out.

My head began to feel like it was ready to explode. I felt the familiar dripping of blood coming out of my nose as I struggled and fought as best as I could to destroy this demon.

That's when I felt her hand slide into mine.

In that moment, I hadn't had the chance to be surprised or grateful, but for a second I was both, seeing Lizzie raise her own hand as she helped me pull Samhain from Don's body.

It still took a moment, seeing as he was strong and this was the first time she'd done this- that i knew of at least. But sure enough, we managed to pull him out of the vessel, before we finished the job and sent him straight back to hell.

The moment the smoke disappeared into the ground, and we relax, Lizzie goes slack beside me, almost falling to the ground in a pile. I reacted quickly, wrapping an arm around her to make sure she stayed on her feet.

She'd been about to say something when she froze, her eyes on her left, focussing on the entrance to the room... right where Dean stood watching us.

...

After dealing with Samhain last night, none of us had said a single word. None of us even looked at each other. We'd simply come back to the hotel. I guess it had all been too much, because Lizzie had left early this morning. While Dean had been out at a bar or something, and I'd been in the bathroom, she'd packed her things and left... without writing a note this time.

Dean had asked where she was, clearly worried about her even after what he'd watched both her and I do. But I had no answer, and she wasn't responding to any of our calls or messages. I was actually beginning to wonder if she'd come back this time...

Standing by my bed, I packed up my things, ready to get out of here. There was tension between Dean and me, but not enough to change things. The job was done and it was time for us to move on to the next.

"Tomorrow."

I jumped at the sound of a voice. Turning around, I found Uriel sitting on the couch.

"November second, it's an anniversary for you, right?"

"What are you doing here?"

Instead of answering my question, he went on. "It's the day Azazel killed your mother, and twenty-two years later your girlfriend too. It must be difficult to bear, yet you so brazenly use the power he gave you. His profane blood pumping through your veins."

"Excuse me?"

"You were told not to use your abilities."

"And what was I supposed to do? That demon would have killed me, and Lizzie, and my brother and everyone."

"You were told not to."

"If Samhain had gotten loose in this town-"

He cut me off, clearly not caring what I had to say, "You've been warned. Twice now."

"If Lizzie and I-"

"Let me make one thing clear. You were told not to use your powers. Next time we while make you. And that whore you and your brother cart around, she means nothing to us. So, I suggest she stop using her abilities as well. Or you'll both suffer the consequences."

I shook my head at him, wanting nothing more than to hurt him after what he'd just called Lizzie. "You know… my brother was right about you. You are dicks."

Looking to me again, he got up and was suddenly right in front of me. "The only reason you're still alive, Sam Winchester, is because you've been useful. But the moment that ceases to be true, the second you become more trouble than you're worth, one word. One, and I will turn you to dust." Backing off, he went on, "As for your brother, tell him that maybe he should climb off that high horse of his. Ask Dean what he remembers from hell."

Just as quickly as he'd appeared in front of me, he was gone with the sound of heavy wings fluttering behind him. I was left on my own again, left to think about what he'd just told me and what it meant.

**DPOV**

I sat on a park bench, looking out at some kids and their parents as they played on the swings and ran around. I didn't even have to look over to know Castiel was sitting next to me. I'd heard his wings. I knew he was there.

"Let me guess you're here for the 'I told you so'?" I asked, though had a feeling I knew the answer.

"No."

 _Or maybe I didn't have the answer._ "Well, good, cause I'm really not that interested."

"I am not here to judge you, Dean."

"Then why are you here?"

"Our orders-"

I cut him off, not really in the mood to hear this speech for the millionth time. "Yeah, you know, I've had about enough of these orders of yours-"

It was his turn to cut me off. "Our orders were not to stop the summoning of Samhain, they were to do whatever you told us to do."

I frowned, confused. "Your orders were to follow my orders?"

"It was a test, to see how you would perform under... battlefield conditions, you might say."

"It was a witch, not the Tet Offensive," I noted. "So I, uh, failed your test, huh? I get it. But you know what? If you would have waved that magic time-traveling wand of yours and we had to do it all over again, I'd make the same call. 'Cause see, I don't know what's gonna happen when these seals are broken. Hell, I don't even know what's gonna happen tomorrow. But what I do know is, that this, here?" I gestured around us. "These kids, the swings, the trees, all of it is still here because of Liz, my brother and me."

"You misunderstand me, Dean, I'm not like you think. I was praying that you would choose to save the town."

That was a surprise. "You were?"

"These people," he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "they're all my father's creations. They're works of art, and yet, even though you stopped Samhain, the seal was broken and we are one step closer to hell on earth, for all creation. Now that's not an expression, Dean, it's literal. You of all people should appreciate what that means."

He was right. I did appreciate what that meant. Which is why I'd wanted to save this people last night. Saving the world was great, sure, but not if the wrong choices had been made along the way. If I listened to the angels last night, then I'd deserve to be sent back to hell.

Speaking up again, Castiel pulled my attention to him. "Can I tell you something if you promise not to tell another soul?"

"Okay."

"I'm not a... hammer as you say. I have questions. I... I have doubts." He sighed. "I don't know what is right and what is wrong anymore, whether you passed or failed here. But in the coming months you will have more decisions to make. I don't envy the weight that's on your shoulders, Dean. I truly don't."

We shared a look for a moment and I could see he meant it. Turning away, I wondered what that might mean for me. What it might mean for Sam and Liz... for everyone else. But before I could ask, I looked over to see he was gone, and once again, I was alone.

**Bamby**


	13. Bear Care

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Filler chapter, sorry guys! Just loved the giant teddy bear too much to skip it :P Also, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. There was a family medical emergency that kept me from both writing and posting, but I'm going to try to get back into things now that the situation has changed.
> 
> Warnings: Angst. Nothing much, though...
> 
> Bamby

**SPOV**

"It just doesn't make any sense, Dean. I mean, why would Uriel tell me you remembered Hell if you didn't?"

"Maybe because he's a dick. Might have something to do with it."

The two of us sat at a table in a bar, eating some food- Dean downing some shots. It had been a couple of weeks since Halloween. Since Samhain. Since Lizzie had left us. Since I met the angels. Since Uriel suggested Dean was keeping things from me. Two weeks since I'd asked my brother, and yet he still hadn't told me the truth.

I didn't care how many times he told me he knew nothing, I could see he was lying. I could see it in the way he drank more and slept less. Things were wrong, and only now did I realise it was because of whatever happened down there.

"Maybe, but he's still an angel," I noted.

"Yeah, an angel who was ready to level an entire town. Look, I don't know what-" Dean cut himself off as our waiter came over to our table.

"Radical." The waiter smiled widely, abnormally happy and cheerful as he looked down at us. "What else can I get you guys?"

"Uh, I think we're good," I assured him.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

But still, he didn't leave. Instead he stayed exactly where he was, still smiling. "You want to try a couple of fryer bombs? Or a chipotle chili changa?"

"No, no, we're- we're still good," Dean insisted.

"Okay, awesome." Smile never fading or wavering, the guy left, taking his flashing badges attached to his uniform with him.

Once he was gone, Dean went on. "Sam, honestly, I have no idea why Uriel told you what he did, okay?" He downed another shot.

Giving a short nod, I looked down at the shot glass as he put it down next to the other empty glasses. "Right."

"What?"

"Okay. Fine. Then look me in the eye and tell me you don't remember a thing from your time down under."

It took a moment, but after a second or two, he did exactly that. "I don't remember a thing from my time down under." He must have been able to tell I didn't believe him, because before I could say anything he got defensive. "I don't remember, Sam!"

"Look, Dean, I just want to help."

"You know everything I do. Okay? That's all there is."

The waiter came back then. "Outstanding. Dessert time? Huh? Am I right?"

Dean sighed, looking up at him. "Dude."

"Listen, bros. You have got to try our ice cream extreme. It's extreme."

"Uh, no extremities, please. Just the-"

The waiter cut me off, "Check? All right, awesome." Puling our check from his pad, he placed it on the table, still smiling like he had been since we'd arrived.

I offered him a forced smile that was nowhere near as cheerful as his. "Thanks."

Once again, the moment the waiter was gone, Dean spoke up, "All right, so, where do we go from here?"

"I'm not sure." Reaching over for my laptop, I opened it up to look through some stories I'd found earlier. "Uh, looks like it's been pretty quiet lately. No signs of demon activity, no omens or portents I can see."

"That's good news for once."

"Yeah, just the typical smattering of crank UFO sightings and one possible vengeful spirit. Here, check this out." I turned the computer to him- which he didn't even glance at as he grabbed his beer. "Uh... up in Concrete, Washington, eyewitness reports of a ghost that's been haunting the showers of a women's health facility." Dean choked on his beer and started to pack up as I went on. "The victim claims that the ghost threw her down a flight of stairs. I can see you're very interested," I noted, seeing that he was ready to go.

"Women, showers. We got to save these people." Getting up, he threw some money on the table and started to leave.

I didn't get up right away though. Instead I took a moment to pull my phone out of my pocket and check it quickly. It had been a few days since I'd sent Lizzie a message, and I still hadn't heard back from her. We had no idea where she was, and even though Dean wouldn't admit it, I knew he was just as worried as I was.

**EPOV**

Lying on my back, looking up at the roof, I let out a long sigh.

"You okay, babe?" Tristan asked as he walked out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist as he used another to dry his hair.

I couldn't stop myself from smiling at the sight of him. I had no idea how I was so lucky. He was like no other guy I'd met. Especially like no other hunter. If anything, I would have pegged him as a model more than anything.

Styled, thick, honey hair that no matter what he did with it, it always looked good. With stubble covering his jaw, and deep brown eyes I could fall into forever. A body even I was jealous of, with abs and lean muscles in all the right places. No marks or scars. He was practically a walking Ken doll, perfect for any Barbie girl, yet he was all mine.

Looking over at me, he gave a light chuckle as the corner of his lips pulled up slightly. "Babe? You okay?"

"Do you have to go?"

After spending the last two weeks in this room, surviving on room service and each other, Tristan had received a call from a friend, asking for help. A friend who was all the way up in Canada.

I wanted to go with him, of course, and he wanted me to go as well. But there was no way I could just pack up and leave the country. Not when I wasn't sure if everything here would be okay. Leaving Bobby, Ellen, Jo and the Winchesters like that... it would be selfish and wrong of me.

Speaking of which... after they hadn't heard from me for a few days, Dean and Sam had got in contact with Ellen, Jo and Bobby in the hopes that they might know where I was. That's when I started to get bombarded by messages from all of them. They were all worried sick.

To ease their minds, I'd sent a message out to everyone assuring them that I was okay and just needed some time. I had a feeling the brothers would keep the details of Halloween to themselves, but I still felt the need to make sure everyone knew I was safe and sound with Tristan.

For the two weeks, he'd helped calm me down. I'd told him everything that happened with Samhain. When he hadn't completely freaked, I'd been shocked. Any other hunter probably would have killed me, but instead he'd been nothing but supportive and reassuring. He could see how scared and anxious I was, and decided that there was nothing more important than being there for me at that moment.

It's one of the reasons why him leaving wasn't exactly making me smile.

"Look," he came over to sit on the bed next to me, "you and I both know that spending another week here would be like heaven to me. But my friend needs help, and we really should get some fresh air. So, here's what we're gonna do. You are going to call your friends. You're gonna make sure everyone is okay and let them know you are, too. Then you're gonna see if any of them need help with a case. You'll keep yourself busy, stress less about everything, and wait for me to come back. Okay?" he finished as he grabbed one of my pills and some water from my night stand, and handed them to me.

Sitting up, I offered a reluctant nod as I let him put the pill on my tongue and then bring the cup to my lips so I could swallow. His eyes stayed on mine the whole time, and I couldn't help but wonder how I was supposed to deal without him for however long he'd be gone.

**SPOV**

I sat in Lucky Chin's Chinese Restaurant, at a table with Candace Armstrong. She was the woman the ghost apparently pushed down some stairs at the woman's health facility. A brace cradled her injured arm as she sat there telling me her story.

"I'm not surprised the spirit world chose to make contact with me. I'm something of a... natural sensitive."

"I can sense that about you, Candace, that whole... sensitive thing." It was a lie. I couldn't sense anything, really. I just wanted her to tell me what I needed to know.

"So, what did you say you're calling your book?"

"Oh, well, um... Well, the working title is... 'Supernatural'." Once again, a lie. But it was a backstory for the case, and the first thing I came up with. "Yeah, I've been crossing the country, gathering stories like yours. But, anyways, you were telling me about your encounter."

"Yes. Well..." she sighed, "once I saw the apparition, that's when I started to run."

I'd been just about to respond when my attention was pulled to a couple at another table. They were an unlikely couple, him being a nerdy looking guy while she appeared to be the type of girl to go for Dean and not him. But as they sat there, holding hands, I could tell they were in love. _Very_ in love.

Clearing my throat, I turned to Candace again. "And you said the ghost chased you?"

"Not just that. It knew my name. It kept yelling, 'Mrs Armstrong! Mrs Armstrong!' And that's when I hit the stairs and fell."

"You fell?" I frowned. That didn't go with the story she gave for the report I found online. "The ghost didn't push you?"

"Oh, I don't- I don't know. I mean, I think it did. Maybe."

"Did you feel like it meant to hurt you, like it was violent, or-"

She cut me off suddenly, "It was a ghost. I'm lucky to be alive. Anyway, I was at the bottom of the stairs, and that's when it got weird." Chuckling lightly, she leaned forward, getting a little closer as she added, "It helped me up."

"Say again?"

"Yeah. It helped me up. And it kept saying over and over, 'Please, don't tell my mum'."

"Yeah, that's weird." _Really weird..._

...

I found Dean sitting on the steps of the porch outside the woman's Fitness Center, reading a newspaper.

"Well, you pick up anything?" I asked as I reached him.

Folding the paper up, he stood and walked down the stairs. "No EMF in the shower or anywhere else. This house is clean."

"Yeah. I'm not surprised. I kind of got the feeling back there that crazy pushed Mrs Armstrong down the stairs," I noted as we started walking.

"I got to tell you, I'm pretty disappointed."

"You wanted to save naked women."

He gave a short nod. "Damn right I wanted to save some naked women."

Chuckling lightly, I shook my head in amusement as we reached the path, only to be cut off as a kid ran past us, running away from three other kids who were close behind him.

"Come on, guys, get him!" one of the kids yelled.

"I got him! I got him!" another added.

Dean and I watched them dash past as Dean called out, "Run, Forrest, run!"

With the kids now gone, I turned to my brother, not seeing any point in hanging around town if there was no case. "Sorry, Dean, but I don't think anything's going on around here."

As if right on time, we overheard two men arguing. One was a cop while the other looked like a simple civilian. But the civilian was clearly upset about something.

"How the hell was I supposed to get a look at it? It grabbed me from behind and threw me into a tree!"

"Yeah, okay, Gus. I understand you got shook up. Anyone would be. But don't you think it- Don't you think it had to be a bear?" the cop asked, trying to reason with Gus- the civilian- clearly not believing him.

"I know a damn bear track when I see one!" Gus insisted. "This thing didn't leave bear tracks! Its feet were huge!"

"Now, Gus-"

"It was Bigfoot, Hal. _The_ Bigfoot!"

_Bigfoot?_

"Gus, you're not talking sense here."

"There's a Bigfoot out there, damn it, and he's a son of a bitch!"

Walking over to the two men, Dean and I pulled out our badges as I cleared my throat, catching their attention. "Excuse us. FBI."

The cop looked genuinely confused and shocked. "What?"

"Yes, sir. We're here about the..." I nodded to Gus. "That."

"About Bigfoot?"

"That's right." Turning to Gus I asked, "Sir, can you tell me exactly where this happened?"

Straightening up, arms folded over his chest, Gus gave a firm nod. "Yes, I can."

**DPOV**

Gus had directed us down a path and into the woods. Both Sam and I weren't exactly sure what we might be walking into, but whatever it was, it was clear it was weird. Nothing about this case had been normal so far.

"What the hell's going on in this town? First there's a ghost that's not real, and now a Bigfoot sighting?"

Sam shrugged, hands in his pockets as he walked beside me. "Well, every hunter worth his salt knows Bigfoot's a hoax."

"Well, maybe somebody's pumping LSD into the town water supply," I joked right before we both came to a stop as we looked down at what was clearly a huge track on the ground... I just had no idea where it might have come from. "Okay. What do you suppose made that?"

Sam though about it for a moment, but all he came up with was, "That, uh... is a big foot."

...

We'd followed the tracks to a path that lead us over a bridge and to a store. Whatever had made the tracks, left prints up to the store's back door- which had been ripped off its hinges- and then inside. Walking in, we found the place a mess. Especially the liquor section. There was broken glass all over the floor, and a lot of missing bottles that weren't scattered all over the place.

"So, what, Bigfoot breaks into a liquor store, jonesing for some hooch?" I crouched down to read the labels of the broken bottles. "Amaretto and Irish cream. He's a girl-drink drunk." As Sam moved on, I reached over and grabbed myself a bottle of something, stashing it in my jacket.

"Hey. Check this out," Sam called me over.

I moved towards him, coming to stand by the porn magazine rack... which was practically empty. "He took the whole porno rack? Well, I'll say it again. What the hell is going on in this town?"

**EPOV**

Jo and I sat on the hood of the truck she'd arrived in, looking up at the sky, just talking away. The moment I'd sent her a message to let her know I was okay, she'd told me to meet her at this park close to Bobby's that we used to hang around years ago. We'd been here a while now, just catching up like the good old times.

It was nice, hanging out with her like this. Since that first and only case we did together, we didn't really see each other that much. But before, we saw each other almost every week. The distance didn't change how I felt about her though. She was still like a sister to me. Just like Ellen was like a mum to me. Things were just... different now.

"You know what your mum's been doing lately?"

"Hunting," Jo answered without having to think about it. "Sometimes we hunt together, but a lot of the times she goes off and does her own thing like I do."

A small smile played on my lips as I turned to look at her. "Three years ago, would you have thought this is how we'd end up?"

"No," she laughed, shaking her head. "No way did I think I'd been hunting. Especially not with my mum. I actually thought, if there was anyone I'd hunt with, it would be with you. Best hunter I know."

I scoffed. "Please. Bobby taught me everything I know. The Winchesters are the strongest people I know. Your mum is the toughest woman in the history of the human race. Oh, and you know... you're not too bad yourself," I teased.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." She rolled her eyes, looking up at the sky again. "What about you? Did you ever think you'd be where you are?"

"Did I ever think I'd be in a relationship, hunting with the Winchesters, and fighting to stop the apocalypse? Hm, let me think about that..." I gave it a moment as I pretended to think before answering, "Nope."

"Admit it." She turned her head to look at me. "Hunting with the Winchesters... you love it."

I shrugged. "It's not bad."

"Oh, come on Lizzie." She sat up and turned to me a little more. "You love it. If you didn't, you would have come back to mum and me years ago. Or you would have moved back in with Bobby."

"Okay, yeah. I love it. Because I'm hunting. It's got nothing to do with the guys."

"That's bull, and you know it. Whenever we talk, you're always going on about the brothers. Sam's practically replaced me. And Dean?" She gave me a knowing look. "None of us are blind. We all know there's something going on between the two of you."

"Um, excuse me… I'm in a relationship," I reminded her. "There's nothing going on between me and anyone other than Tristan."

Rolling her eyes, she moved back so she was lying down again. "If that was the case, you wouldn't hunt with the brothers anymore. Tristan wouldn't have left you here. And you would have introduced him to everyone by now."

I didn't care what Jo said. I was one hundred percent sure about Tristan. I loved him and he loved me. I really did. He helped through losing Dean. He'd saved my life a bunch of times and I'd saved his. He meant a lot to me.

**DPOV**

Sitting on a bench outside the store, Sam and I tried to think over what we might be dealing with. But try as we might, nothing seemed to add up. I could honestly say I've never had a case this absurd before, and that was saying a lot.

Shaking my head, I let out a frustrated sight. "I got nothing."

"It's got to be a joke, right? Some big-ass mother in a gorilla suit?"

"Or it's a Bigfoot. You know, and he's some kind of an alcohol-porno addict. Kind of like a deep-woods Duchovny," I chuckled lightly to myself.

Just then, a little girl on a bike appeared, coming down the path, headed towards the store. She didn't even glance at Sam and I as she rode past. But as she did, the wind picked up, blowing a magazine out of the carrier that say behind her.

She disappeared around the corner as Sam and I stood to grab the magazine. Strange thing is... it was a porno.

"A little young for busty Asian beauties," I noted.

Sneaking over to the corner, Sam and I looked around to see the little girl leave a box of things by the stairs that lead to the broken door, before she grabbed her bike and started to walk to the bridge and into the woods, Sam and I right behind her.

...

I pulled the car up in front of a house where the little girl's bike sat out the front. Sam and I got out and headed up the path, looking to the normal, everyday suburban home that stood before us.

"What's this, like a 'Harry and the Hendersons' deal?" I asked as we walked up the stairs to know on the door.

A moment later, the door opened as the little girl looked up at us. "Hello?"

"Hello!" Sam smiled down at her. "Um, could we... You know what? Are your parents home?"

"Nope."

"No," Sam sighed as he looked over to me.

"No," I repeated, turning back at the little girl. "Um... have you seen a really, really furry-"

She cut me off, worry in her voice. "Is he in trouble?"

"No," Sam assured her, chuckling lightly. "No, no, no. Not at all. We just- We wanted to make sure he was okay."

"Exactly." I nodded.

"He's my teddy bear," she explained, lowering her voice to a whisper as she went on. "I think he's sick."

Standing there, looking down at her for a moment longer, it took me a second or two to think up of a response that would get us inside so we could see what was going on. Lucky for us, I was a god liar.

"Wow. Uh... amazing. 'Cause you know what? We..." I gave Sam's arms a nudge, "are, uh..." we pulled out our health inspector badges, "teddy bear doctors."

"Really?" Her face lit up. "Can you please take a look at him?"

Both Sam and I nodded. "Sure. Yeah."

...

Walking up the stairs, the little girl in front while Sam was behind, we followed her to a closed door. I'd looked around every corner and every room we'd passed, finding that we were alone. This little girl who would be no older than nine, was home alone.

Stopping in front of the door, she turned to Sam and me as we stood a step behind her. "He's in my bedroom. He's pretty grumpy." Lifting her hand, she knocked on the door. "Teddy? There's some nice doctors here to see you." Reaching for the handle, she turned it and opened the door.

I could not believe what I was seeing.

Sitting inside the room, watching the news on TV while the lights were out, while drinking some kind of alcoholic drink from the bottle, was a bear. But not just any kind of bear. No, this one looked exactly like the kinds you found on kids' beds. Only difference is... this teddy bear was _big_. Bigger than Sam and I.

"Close the friggin' door!" he snapped, clearly drunk. It was also obvious that he wasn't angry drunk or bored drunk... he was depressed.

Doing as he said, the little girl closed the door before turning back to Sam and me. "See what I mean?"

Sam and I shared a look. Speechless. We'd never dealt with something like this. How were we supposed to respond? What were we supposed to say? Or do? How were we supposed to reassure this little girl, _and_ get rid of the bear?

"All I ever wanted was a teddy which was big, real, and talked," she explained when neither Sam or I said anything. "But now he's sad all the time. Not 'ouch' sad, but ouch-in-the-head sad. Says weird stuff, and smells like the bus."

"Um, little girl-"

She cut me off with an annoyed sigh, "Audrey!"

"Audrey," I corrected, before going on. "How exactly did your teddy become real?"

"I wished for it," she answered with a simple shrug as if it were obvious and normal... which it wasn't, by the way.

"You wished for it?" Sam asked, needing more than that. We needed details.

Audrey gave a sharp nod. "At the wishing well."

Looking down at her for a moment longer, I wondered if she was being serious or if something else had happened. What was this bear? What was going on in this town?

Stepping forward, I opened the door and moved into the room, watching as the bear still sat there watching the TV, rocking back and forth, holding the bottle of alcohol still.

"Look at this." He gestured to the TV. "You believe this crap?"

Giving a quick glance to the screen, I then turned back to him. "Not really."

"It is a terrible world." He spun around to look at the three of us. "Why am I here?!"

"For tea parties!" Audrey exclaimed.

"Tea parties?" The bear chuckled lightly, unamused. "Is that all there is?" he asked as he began to sob.

Slowly, I turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me as I moved to stand next to Sam again, looking down at Audrey once more.

"Audrey, give us a second, okay?" Sam asked, getting an understanding nod from the girl. "Okay." Walking a few steps away, Sam and I had our backs to her as he spoke in a hushed voice, "Are we... should we... uh… are we gonna kill this teddy bear?"

I shrugged, not exactly sure about our options here. "How? Do we shoot it, burn it?"

"I don't know. Both?"

"How do we even know that's gonna work? I don't want some giant, flaming, pissed-off teddy on our hands."

"Yeah." He nodded, agreeing. "Besides, I get the feeling that the bear isn't really the, you know, core problem here." Turning, he spoke to the girl again. "Audrey. Where are your parents?"

"My mum wished they were in Bali, so I think they're in Bali." She shrugged.

_That doesn't help the situation..._

"Okay, well... I'm really sorry to have to break this to you, but... your bear is sick." Sam sighed sympathetically, "Yeah, he's- he's got..."

As he continued to struggle to come up with something, I saved him. "Lollipop disease."

Sam nodded. "Lollipop disease."

"It's not uncommon for a bear his size," I explained to Audrey, obviously lying through my teeth... but she believed us. "But, see, it's- it's really contagious."

"Yeah, so, is there- is there someone, maybe a grown-up, that you can stay with while we treat him?" Sam asked.

"Mrs Hurley lives down the street," Audrey noted.

"Perfect." I smiled.

"Good, yeah, good. Uh, we'd like you to stay there for a few days, okay?" Sam told her.

"Okay." She nodded, still understanding.

But before she left, there was one more thing we needed to find out. "Oh, and, Audrey? Where is this wishing well?"

**SPOV**

As Dean and i walked into _Lucky Chins_ , the kid that had been chased before walked out, a look of determination on his face. Ignoring him, we headed straight for the wishing well in the middle of the restaurant.

Stopping in front of it, Dean looked down at it curiously. "Think it works?"

"Got a better explanation for teddy back there?" I countered.

"Well, there's one way to find out." Reaching into his pocket, Dean pulled out a coin.

"What are you gonna wish for?"

"Shh!" He threw the coin in, closing his eyes as he made a wish. "Not supposed to tell."

A second or two later, the bell above the door rang as a delivery guy stepped in. "Somebody order a footlong Italian with jalapeño?"

Dean- just as shocked as I was- looked from the guy, to me, as he raised his hand. "That'd be me."

**DPOV**

Sitting at one of the tables, I dug into my sub, enjoying every delicious bite it had to offer. "I think it works, dude. That was pretty specific."

Sam shrugged. "The teddy bear, the sandwich..."

"Mm. I'm guessing this." I showed him the front page of the newspaper that sat in front of me, pointing to the article of a man who'd won millions in the lottery.

He gave it a glance before gesturing to the side. "I'm guessing that."

I looked over to see a couple sitting there, all loved up, the guy a nerd the girl a bombshell. "Well, that definitely goes on the list. What are we supposed to do, huh? Stop people's wishes from coming true? I mean, it sounds like kind of a douche-y thing to do."

"Yeah, maybe. But come on, man. When has something like this ever come without a price tag? And usually a deadly one."

"I don't know. It's a damn good sandwich," I noted, taking another bite. "All right. Fine. We'll put a hold on the wishing till we figure out what's going on."

Just then, one of the waiters came over to our table. "Uh, gentlemen, gentlemen. I'm sorry. We don't allow people to eat outside food here."

"Well, I am certainly not gonna eat the inside food here." Gesturing for him to wait, I began to reach into my pockets until i found and pulled out the badge I was looking for. "Health department. You, my friend, have a rat infestation. We're gonna have to shut this place down under emergency hazard code 56C."

"Rats?!"

**Bamby**


	14. Careful What You Wish For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Angst. Violence.
> 
> Bamby

**EPOV**

Not a lot of people knew this, but the night Bobby and I met... well a lot had happened.

I almost died for starters. Or maybe I had. I mean, when I died with Sam a couple of years ago, and Dean had sold his soul to get us back... the demon said I was already back. So, maybe I'd died that night as well? Maybe I've died a few times?

But that's not all that happened.

It had been a hectic night. It had been a hectic few months. After losing my mum, both my sister and I fell down dangerous paths. I went through things. She went through things. Only difference was, I made it out.

Gabby had started dating a guy. A bad-boy. Only she hadn't realised how bad he really. Neither of us knew he was actually a monster. In the end… he killed her.

Not even a year after finding my mum's lifeless, torn up body lying on the office floor of our home, blood everywhere and a look of terror in her eyes which refused to close... I then found my sister.

The similarities between the two bodies had been uncanny. My sister had been the spitting image of mum, in life _and_ in death.

Bobby had saved me after that. After I found her body, tried to get revenge, drastically failed and almost- if not definitely- died.

Bobby did something for me then. Here was a scared, broken, lost girl. A fifteen-year-old with baggage to spare. A head-case and emotional wreck, who would drag everything and everyone she touched down. Yet, he didn't run. He didn't warn me away from hunting. Instead, he took me in.

Then, instead of burning my sister there, along with the monsters- even though there was a chance she may have been turning into one herself- he packed both her and me into his car, and took us to his hometown. There, he burned and buried my sister on the edge of the cemetery. The grave was marked by a single rock. He'd found it. Turned to me and asked if it was a good choice. I'd been too numb to see he was simply trying comfort, or maybe amuse, or even distract me at that moment. All I did was nod, and watch as he laid the rock on top of my sister's grave.

We went home after a few hours. We didn't speak. We didn't need to. He took me to his place, invited me into his home, offered me the bed in his office, ordered us some home delivered burgers, and then he just sat at his desk and did some research while I sat there looking out the window.

Over the next few years, Bobby became family. He taught me how to hunt, but also how to live again. He didn't just save my life, he saved my sanity, spirit and soul bit by bit every day after.

When I started to leave, to hunt on my own, I would always come back. I tried to come back as much as possible. The Roadhouse was where I lived, but Bobby's would always be home. As long as the only father I ever knew was there, and my sister's grave not too far away, I would always return.

Which is why I was now lying on the grass, under a tree in the cemetery. Looking up at the sky, my hand lying down on the soft grass above where my sister lay, I let myself be in the moment.

Powers. Tristan. Dean. Sam. Ash. Bela Talbot. Gordon Walker. Azazel. Lilith. Castiel. Ruby. All of it. All the drama, and pain, and fighting, and problems, and complications... sometimes I just needed this. Sometimes I just needed to be with my sister and forget all about monsters, demons, angels and the stupid apocalypse.

**DPOV**

Leaning down over to wishing well, I used the brush to sweep at all the coins lying on the now drained bottom. The restaurant had been cleared a few moments before Sam and I got to work, so as we'd have no distractions and could do what we needed.

"Typical fountain, plaster Buddha. Nothing I can see," I noted, pulling back to stand next to Sam again.

The waiter behind us nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, nothing. We keep a clean place here."

Sighing, Sam turned to him. "Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave during the preliminary investigation, okay? Thank you." With that, he turned back to me as the waiter waited a moment and then left us.

Once he was gone, I pulled out a coin form my pocket. "Oh, come on. Aren't you a little bit tempted?" I asked, flipping the coin over to my brother.

He caught it, chuckling lightly. "No." handing it back to me, he shrugged. "Wouldn't be real. I wouldn't trust it."

"I don't know. That bear seemed pretty real."

"Yeah."

"Come on, if you could wish yourself back, you know, before it all started... think about it. You'd be some big yuppie lawyer with a nice car and a white picket fence."

"Not what I'd wish for."

"Seriously?"

"It's too late to go back to our old lives, Dean. I'm not that guy anymore."

"All right, well, what, then? Hmm? What would Sammy wish for?"

"Lilith's head on a plate. Bloody."

"Okay..." Now that was a surprise.

Sam had never really been a violent kind of person. Sure, we were hunters. We killed things. But that was all in the name of saving others. Protecting those who didn't know what was out there, didn't know how to protect themselves. So to hear him say something so dark and heavy, with such a flat and determined voice... I never thought something like that would come from my brother.

Looking down at the well again, my eyes landed on something I hadn't noticed before. "What is that?" Reaching down again, I brushed away the coins that were resting on top of a different coin. One I'd never seen before.

Crouching down, Sam took a look as well. "Some kind of old coin. I don't recognize the markings." He paused a moment, leaning in a little more. "You know who probably would recognise it?" Turning his head, he gave me a knowing look.

I rolled my eyes. "Liz made her choice. If she's done with us, I'm not gonna dwell on it. We're all adults here, Sam. We make our own decisions." Reaching down, I went to pick the odd coin up... only to find that it wouldn't budge. "Damn."

Sam chuckled lightly, watching me, amused. "Lift with your legs."

But try as I might, the thing just wouldn't move. "Is that little mother welded on there? Huh."

...

Sam and I had left for a moment, but as we walked back into the restaurant, a hammer in his grasp and a crowbar in mine, I was one hundred percent sure that we'd get this coin out of the well once and for all.

The waiter spotted us carrying the tools and came hurrying over as I put the crowbar to the coin. "Hey, hey, hey, what is this?! You are gonna break my fountain!"

"Sir, I don't want to slap you with a forty-four sixteen, but I will," Sam warned, causing the waiter to walk away again- though he clearly wasn't happy with the two of us. "All right, thanks."

When the crowbar didn't work, I looked over at the sledge hammer in Sam's hands. "Let me see that. I got an idea." Lining up the crowbar, I then grabbed the hammer and took a swing, hoping that if I hit the crowbar, it would pry the coin away from the well.

But instead, as the hammer hit the bar, the hammer broke...

"Damn!"

Sam's jaw fell open as he looked form the broken hammer, to the well. "Coin's magical."

"Boy, I'd say. I think it's hoodoo that's protecting the well. I don't think we can destroy this."

Kneeling down, pulling a pencil and piece of paper from his pocket, Sam then traced over the coin to get an imprint of it, before handing the paper to me. "All right, here. You got to look into this."

I frowned, watching as he turned to leave. "Where you going?"

"Something just occurred to me."

**SPOV**

A woman stood by the sink, doing her makeup, completely obvious. But I could see the foot prints, and hear the steps.

Reaching out, I grabbed what felt like a body, and turned it. Just like that, a form appeared in front of me as a red-headed teen aged boy went from being invisible, to completely visible- hence why he moved quickly to cover himself seeing as he was naked.

"Aah!" the woman yelled out, noticing that she was no longer a lone, and that two males were in the bathroom with her.

Raising my Health Department badge to her, I gave a reassuring nod. "Don't worry, ma'am. I'm with the health department." In a hurry, without a word, the woman rushed out, leaving me with the kid. "So, you can turn it on and off, huh?"

Unable to look me in the eyes, both nervous and surprised, the kid muttered, "How... how did you know that I was..."

"You actually walked up to a wishing well, dropped a dime, and wished to be invisible so you could spy on women in the shower?"

"N- No. No," he stuttered. "N- No, no, no. That's crazy."

Let out a sharp and short breath, I shook my head disapprovingly at him. "Put on some pants. And stay visible," I ordered, poking him in the shoulder with each of the three last words.

"O- Okay."

**DPOV**

I was walking down the road, heading back to the hotel, when my phone started to vibrate in my pocket, telling me I had a message. Stopping in the middle of the path, I pulled my phone out to see who it was from. Bobby.

_Just thought you boys would like to know._

_She's home._

Liz. She was back at Bobby's. Safe and sound.

I wasn't going to admit it to her- or anyone for that matter- but I was jealous of this boyfriend she had. This guy I didn't trust, seeing as no one had _seen_ him. This guy who just happened to sweep her off her feet, despite the fact she hadn't been interested in dating. This guy who I knew nothing about, except for the fact that he apparently made Liz happy.

_I made her happy_.

The thought was a shock to me at first, but as I wondered a little more, I realised that I wasn't wrong. At one point, I did make Liz happy. Maybe not the happy she was now, or the happy she needed, but it was a kind of happy.

She'd made me happy, too. But even if she was single, and we went back to how things were before... I doubt much would make me happy again.

The sound of kids running and yelling had me looking up to see the three bullies from earlier now running from the kid they'd been chasing.

"You better run!" he yelled, until he spotted me watching them. Coming to a stop, he glared at me. "You got a problem, mister?"

"What?" I shook my head. "No."

After a second or two, the kid headed off again, chasing the others once more. I took a step to leave as well, only to come to freeze as my stomach grumbled and everything inside it moved in a very, very, _very_ bad way.

_Oh, no. This can't be good..._

**EPOV**

I was home. It was nice to be home.

After dumping my bag in my room, I headed down to see if Bobby needed any help. He was looking up some stuff for the apocalypse. He'd been doing that a lot lately. With the world possibly coming to an end, he was trying to help the Winchesters keep everyone alive.

But I knew he needed a break. Needed to get out of the house. So, while he sat at his desk, flicking through book after book, reading lore after lore... I got comfortable on the couch and started surfing the web for anything that might catch his interest.

**SPOV**

Walking into the hotel room, I slid my keys into my pocket as I closed the door behind me, only to freeze at the sound of Dean in the bathroom... throwing up.

"Dean?" I called out to him. "You all right?"

"The wishes turn bad, Sam," he answered back, voice strained. "The wishes turn very bad."

"The sandwich, huh?"

Instead of answering my question, he flushed the toilet and opened the door, leaning against the frame looking very unwell. "The coin was Babylonian. It's cursed. I found some fragments of a legend, but-" Before he could finish, the colour in his face dimmed a little as he quickly turned to the bathroom again.

I stood there, watching, waiting, concerned for him. But at the same time, I had warned him. He should have known better. When did getting your way ever come without consequences?

As he returned, he gave me a reassuring nod. "I'm good," he insisted as I moved over to the table where the coin and his research sat. "The, uh... the serpent is Tiamat, which is the, uh, Babylonian god of primordial chaos." Grabbing a beer from the fridge, he then come to sit on the bed next to the table. "I guess their, uh, priests were working some serious black magic."

"They made the coin?"

"Yeah, to sow the seeds of chaos. Whoever tosses a coin in the wishing well, makes a wish, it turns on the well. Then it starts granting wishes to all comers."

"But the wishes get twisted. You ask for a talking teddy..."

"You get a bipolar nut job," he finished.

"And you get E. coli."

"Mm. This thing has turned more than one town upside down over the centuries. It's even wiped a few off the map. I mean, one person gets their wish, it's trouble, but everybody gets their wish..."

"It's chaos."

He nodded, taking a drink from his can. "Mm-hmm."

"Any way to stop it?"

"Yeah. One way. We got to find the first wisher. Whoever dropped the coin in and made the first wish, they're the only ones who can pull it back out and reverse the wishes. So for now, we've got a couple of nutso dreams come true, but once the word gets out about the well, things are just gonna get crazier and crazier."

**DPOV**

Sam and I had a pretty good idea who made the first wish. It was published in the local paper a month ago. ' _Wesley Mondale and Ms Hope Lynn Casey have announced their surprise engagement_ '. Which is why we were standing on their porch right now, Sam lifting his hand to ring the doorbell.

A moment or two later, revealing Hope- the woman from the couple in the Chinese restaurant earlier. "Can I help you?" she asked, a little bit of a lost look in her eyes.

Sam smiled at her, giving a short nod. "Hi. We're looking for Wesley Mondale and Hope Lynn Casey. We were called about a wedding. See," he gestured between the two of us, "we're florists."

Hope's eyes lit up as she ushered us in. "Oh, please come in. Wes is inside." She beamed before leading us towards the living room where Wesley sat on the couch, watching TV. "Wes! You didn't tell me that you called the florists for the wedding."

He looked from Sam and I, clearly confused. "Huh?"

Ignoring his confusing, Hope leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips. "You're the best! Mm! Ah!" pulling back, she turned to Sam and I. "I'm gonna go get my folders." With that, she left.

The moment she was gone, I turned to Wesley, smiling but clearly unamused. "Wesley, how's it going?"

"It's 'Wes-" He'd been about to get up, but as I stepped closer he fell back into the chair. Intimidated, he looked from me to Sam again, noticing something. "Aren't you the guys from the health department?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded- not nervous, unlike Wesley. "And florists on the side."

"Plus FBI," I added. "And on Thursdays, we're teddy bear doctors."

"Huh?"

"Doesn't matter who we are. What matters is what we know," I told Wes as Sam came to stand next to me.

"So, coin collector, huh, Wes?" Sam gestured to some framed coins hanging on the wall.

Wes turned to look at the coins. "Oh. Yeah. My... grandfather gave them to me."

"Did you happen to lose one of those coins lately?" I asked, going on to elaborate my question. "And by 'lose', I mean drop into a wishing well at _Lucky Chin's_ and make a wish on it?"

"No, I- I don't know what you're, uh… talking about."

Just then, Hope came back in, carrying a bunch of folders and papers. "Okay, now. I have a lot of ideas, but, you know, we don't have all the money in the world. Wes is between jobs right now. Means more time for me. You know, I'm thinking a Japanese-y ikebana kind of thing."

"Yes." I smiled at her, keeping up appearances. "I can see it." Honestly, I had no idea what she was going on about.

"Yeah. So, Hope, uh, tell us how you two lovebirds met," Sam encouraged.

Hope's face lit up even more as her eyes landed on Wes again. "Oh, best day of my life."

"I bet." My own smile grew a little, but it was smugger and knowing than excited. The look of Wes' face told me just how nervous that smile made him.

"Yeah!" Hope went on. "It's the funniest thing. We both grew up here, but I never really knew who he was. Not by name anyway. Until one day, last month, it was like I just," she sighed, content and so happy, "I just saw him for the first time. He was just... glowing." She reached over to press a hand to Wes' chest, running her hand up and down. "Oh, just glowing."

Eyes nervously looking from his 'fiancé' to Sam and I, Wes quickly tried to change the subject. "Uh, babe, can you- can you get us some coffee?"

"Yes. Yeah." Nodding, she did the opposite of leaving, and leaned forward to kiss him. _Deeply_ kiss him. It was getting pretty awkward, if you know what I mean.

"Oh. Okay. Okay. Mm-Hmm. Okay." Between each kiss, Wes tried to mumble words to her so she would leave. "Oh, okay. Oh. Mm-mmm, okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay."

Pulling away, Hope nodded again, fixed herself up. "Yeah." As she turned to leave, I watched her go, a little jealous of Wes at that moment.

"Wes, we know." Sam got to the point, getting back on track. "So tell us the truth."

It took a moment as he stood there contemplating it, but eventually, Wes told us everything. "My- my grandfather found the coin in north Africa, you know, World War II. And, uh, he brought it back. He, um, he said it was a real wish-granting coin, but that nobody should ever use it. Um... it was all I had, and when he died, I thought, 'Well, you know what? Why not give the coin a shot?'"

"Yeah, well, now you're gonna wish it back," Sam told him simply.

"Oh." Wes chuckled, until he realised we were being serious. "Oh. Ha, ha, no, I'm not."

"If you don't stop it, something bad's gonna happen," I explained.

"Something bad. Like us," Sam warned.

Stepping closer to Wes, I pulled my gun out and held it by my side so he could see it. "We really wish you'd come with us."

...

Wes sat in the back of the car as I drove down the street, headed for _Lucky Chin's_. Sam sat next to me, where he usually was. Only things were a little tense between us. Had been for the last few hours.

After he woke me up from a nap, he'd asked me about Hell again. Claimed he could tell things weren't right because I was drinking more, and that he knew I was having nightmares. But once again, I lied and insisted that everything was fine and I remembered nothing.

Of course, we were ignoring all of that for now. There was a case we needed to finish, and Wes was the guy to do it.

"I don't get it," Wes sighed from the back, clearly annoyed and frustrated with the whole idea of taking away his wish. "So, my wish came true. Why does that have to be a bad thing?"

"Because the wishes go south, Wes," Sam tried to tell him- not for the first time. "Your town is going insane."

"Come on." I looked at Wes through the rear-view mirror. "You're gonna sit there and tell me that your relationship with Hope is functional, that it's what you wished for?"

Wes shrugged as if he thought things were going the way he wanted them to. "I wished she would love me more than anything."

"Yeah, and, uh, how is that going? That seem healthy to you?" Sam asked.

"Well, it's a hell of a lot better than when she didn't know I was alive."

I shook my head at the guy. "You're not supposed to get what you want, man, not like this. Nobody is. That's what the coin does. It takes your heart's desires and it twists it back on you. You hear of the whole, uh, 'be careful what you wish for'?"

"'Careful what you wish for'," Wes repeated in a mocking tone, rolling his eyes. "You know who says that? Good-looking jerks like you guys, the ones who've got it so easy because you happen to be handsome."

Sam and I scoffed. "Easy?"

"Yeah. Women- women look at you, right? They notice you."

Yeah, they did. But that wasn't the point. That didn't mean we had things easy. It didn't mean we were happy. Or that we got what we wanted. Girls might notice us, but we still had no mum, or dad, or home, or stable life, or wives, or girlfriends, or anything 'normal'.

"Believe us, we do not have it easy," Sam assured him.

"We are miserable," I added. "We never get what we want. In fact, we have to fight tooth and nail just to keep whatever it is we got."

Sam shrugged. "But you know what? Maybe that's the whole point, Wes."

"Yeah." I nodded, knowing what he meant. "People are people 'cause they're miserable bastards, 'cause they never get what they really want."

"Right, yeah, you get what you want, you get crazy," Sam added.

"Take a look at Michael Jackson, hmm? Or Hasselhoff," I finished.

But Wes just wasn't getting it. "You know what? Hope loves me now. Completely. And it's awesome. Besides, look around. Where's all this, uh, insanity you guys were talking about?"

As if on cue, we spotted the kids from earlier as they yelled out for help. The smaller kid grabbed the bottom edge of the car they were in, lifting it as if it were as light as a feather, and then pushed it onto its side.

I stopped the car. "Well, that should cover it."

"Kneel before Todd!" The smaller kid looked up to the sky, yelling. "Kneel before Todd!"

Needing to stop the kid before someone got really hurt, I got out of the car and turned to Sam. "I'll handle Todd. You get Wes to Lucky Chin's. Go!" Without waiting a moment longer, I hurried over to the kid. "Hey, kid! Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Get out of my way!" he warned.

I raised my hands in the air as I took a few more steps towards him. "Okay. Hey, I can dig it, Todd. It- it's Todd, right?" He nodded. "Look, I-I know the score. Okay? They're- they're bullying you-"

"Every day," he claimed as I stopped to crouch down in front of him. "Every day! You do not know what it's like!"

"No, no, I don't." I shook my head. "But, you know, you're you and I'm me, so-"

"Couldn't stop them. I couldn't do anything. Then Audrey Elmer told me the wishing well worked."

"Okay, okay. Look- look, I get it. They're- they're mean little jerks, huh? But they're not superhuman like you. You see, with great power comes great respon-"

Before I could finish, he lifted his fist and punched me, throwing me across the parking lot and into some garbage cans and trash bags.

**SPOV**

Stopping in front of _Lucky Chin's_ , I hurried out of the car, moving for the door.

"That- that- that kid turned over that car like- like it was nothing," Wes noted as he moved around to follow me.

"You should have seen the teddy bear. Now, come on. Fun's over. Time to pull the coin." But as I turned to him, I found he had stopped. He wasn't coming. "Wes!"

"Well, why can't we just get what we want?!" he asked, frustrated. He was seriously starting to get on my nerves.

"Because that's life, Wes."

I'm not really sure what happened next, but I just remember feeling something painful push through me, shaking me to my core. Something I'd never felt before, almost burning though my veins. Then everything went black.

**DPOV**

I pulled myself up and out of the trash, straightening myself up as much as I could as I stated for Todd again. "Hey, kid!" I called, getting his attention. As I reached him, I leaned down to his level again. "I didn't want to have to do this." I punched him.

It hurt. Bad. Like punching a wall. It hardly moved his head, too. Like he hardly felt it. But I did. I was pretty sure I'd been feeling it for a while. _I hope my hand isn't broken..._

Before I could test my hand to make sure it was in fact okay, Todd reached forward, wrapped his fingers around my throat, and began to squeeze.

I struggled and fought against him, trying to pry his fingers from me. But try as I might, he was too strong. I knew I wouldn't last much longer. I could already feel my lungs screaming like they were on fire, begging for air. My head was growing dizzy.

_Come on, Sammy_. I hoped and prayed he'd hurry up. I hoped and prayed Wes would pull the coin out any second.

It honestly felt like it wasn't going to happen though... and then, suddenly, I could breathe again.

Todd's hand was still wrapped around my throat, but the pressure was gone. The strength was no longer there. His wish was gone.

As his hand fell from my throat, he looked confused, a little scared, and even disappointed. I knew things weren't going to get better for him now, not when he was back to his weak scrawny self, and despite what he did I felt the need to help the kid out.

Getting to my feet as I tried to get control of my breathing again, I nodded down at him. "Okay. Follow my lead and you won't have a problem. Come on."

Heading over to the car he'd toppled before, I made sure the bullies were out and could see us as I suddenly backed myself up into the turned over car. Looking down at Todd, eyes full of fear, hands up in surrender, I shook my head at the kid.

"Okay, man, no more! No more, okay?" I looked to the other kids. "I wouldn't mess with this kid any more if I were you." Turning, I grinned to myself as I walked away, knowing I may not have saved the day but I might have saved Todd's day.

...

Sitting by myself, reading the paper, I looked up in time to see Audrey walking past with her parents- who were sunburnt- and her normal sized teddy in her arms. She gave me a smile and wave, continuing down the pier.

Sam walked over to me then.

Turns out, Hope had made it to the wishing well before us and wished that we be stopped from making Wes take away their 'love'. Seeing as I wasn't trying to do that at the moment, the wish turned on Sam, and actually sent a lightning bolt down to electrocute him. He'd died because of that. But the moment Wes pulled the coin out, Sam came back.

"Well, uh, coin's melted down," he sighed as I moved to stand next to him. "It shouldn't cause any more problems."

"Audrey's parents are back from Bali," I noted. "Looks like all the wishes are gone. And so are we." Turning, we started to leave.

But the guilt of keeping secrets from Sam had finally got to me. I guess seeing Wes holding onto something that wasn't really his, it made me think of the false truths I was holding on to. Just like how he wanted to be loved, I wanted to be happy. But you can't force these things. I can't force my memories away, just like he can't force Hope to love him.

I came to a stop. "Hang on a second."

Sam stopped and turned to look at me, confused. "What?"

Looking out at the water, I hesitated a moment, but didn't give myself enough time to chicken out before saying, "You were right."

The confused look on his face only grew. "About what?"

"I shouldn't have lied to you," I started, looking up at him. "I do remember everything that happened to me in the Pit. Everything."

The confused turned to what I had dreaded would come... pity. "So, tell me about it."

"No." It was as simple as that. "I won't lie anymore. But I'm not gonna talk about it."

"Dean, look, you can't just shoulder this thing alone. You got to let me help."

"How? Do you really think that a little heart-to-heart, some sharing and caring, is gonna change anything? Hmm? Somehow... heal me? I'm not talking about a bad day here."

"I know that."

"The things that I saw... there aren't words. There is no forgetting. There's no making it better. Because it is right here," I lifted my hand to tap my head. "Forever. You wouldn't understand. And I could never make you understand. So I am sorry."

**Bamby**


End file.
